Camp of Horrors
by Angel Wraith
Summary: Makoto Naegi travels to a strange place after class for a reason and as he journeys to his destination , he recalls the very events that is leading him to his destination
1. Chapter 1- Camp Of Horrors

Camp of horrors

 **AUTHORS NOTES : Before we begin we will be focusing on Naegi's POV of the situation entirely , and I do not own anything**

 **This fic is purely spoiler free from the original games and is also canon to my other story ' Operation Warhead ' which I will be updating soon**

 **Also there will be 15 males and 15 females in this story**

* * *

 **It was another beautiful day at Hope's Peak Academy**

 **Thought Makoto Naegi , Ultimate Lucky Student**

 **He looked to his classmates** **who he had spent months bonding with and getting close to them , even the colder ones like Mukuro and Kyoko were beginning to be more friendly with the class , such as joining in social events and even socializing by themselves**

 **It truly was another beautiful day**

 **Classes had ended for the day as Makoto Naegi returned to his dorm room**

 **As he entered he settled his blazer down on his chair and sat down he started checking his group chat with his friends**

 **As he was texting he looked at the date on his phone and his eyes widened**

'Shit I almost forgot about that '

 **He quickly ended the conversation with the excuse that he was tired, once they believed him , he began packing his bag for the trip to his location**

 **He made up the excuse that his family called him back to Tokyo for a family emergency to his teacher and friends the next day**

 **They immediantly believed him and wished him the best of luck dealing with whatever he had to deal with**

 **All those events led up to where he is now, waiting for the bus to pick him up and take him to his intended location**

 **As he was waiting for the bus , he thought about why he was here and began to mentally recall the very 'incident' that is taking him to his destination**

 **A tale of true Despair**

* * *

 **3 Years ago …**

 **It was an average day for 13 year old Makoto Naegi as he sat in the bus with his fellow classmates that he had spent so many months bonding with**

"Makoto- chan come check out this amazing view !" **His classmate Sato Akagi called out to him as she sat across from him**

 **Makoto chuckled a bit as he made his way over to her , Sato was what she declared herself his ' best friend '**

"So what did you want to show me ?" **Naegi asked her as he tried his best to scoot in between his other classmate Honoka Miyu**

"Check out the forest ! It's so big and beautiful " **Sato said to him as she gave him a big smile** "Maybe the whole class can go camping here next time "

 **Makoto gave a small chuckle at his classmates excitement** " But Sato- san , we just finished our camping trip and I wanna go home now " **His other classmate Itsumi Fujiwara said from her sit which was directly in front of Sato's**

" But it would be pretty fun right ? " **Ayaka Mori said to Itsumi as she sat next to her** " Yeah it would be , but right now I just want to go home with me big brother !" **Amelia Miller said as she sat next to her brother Oliver**

 **Makoto gave a small laugh as Amelia clutched onto her older brother , Amelia and Oliver were students from the UK whose family had just moved here because of his father's work**

"Ugh , hey Fumito can you try getting them to be quiet back there ? I'm trying to sleep " **Kakichi Yoshida asked to the class rep Fumito Suzuki and Suzuki just gave him a blank look and response** " You wanna give it a try ?" **And that caused Kakichi to sit back down "** Good point " **he said back**

 **Asako Kato looked at Naegi in annoyance as her two friends Haruka Matsumoto and Kotone Sasaki nodded their heads in agreement that Naegi and his group of pals were being annoying**

 **You see Asako and her group were known as the bullies and nobody messed with them … except for Naegi that is**

 **Going down the line Junichi Saito , Seigo Yamashita and Hiroshi Nakajima were having an argument over who would in a fight while girls like Naoko Fujii , Yumiko Endo , Shizue Tamura and Mizuki Okamoto were discussing a potential sleepover in a few days as some of the others like Yumiko Miura was painting her friend Satoko Nakayama's nails**

 **Meanwhile some of the more intellectual students like Katsuki Yamazaki , Itaru Hayashi and Akio Akiyama were quietly reading a book as some of the other boys namely Haruki Shimizu , Daichi Ishikawa and Fumiya Inoue were engaged in a card game where they had some real time money on the line**

 **The teacher and driver of the bus Eikichi Harada sighed heavily as his class got more involved in their own activities** "Hey everybody settle down ! Back there ! " **he said as he took a shortcut onto a dirt road at the side of the main road**

"Um, teacher ? Where are we going ?" **Fumito asked the teacher**

"Oh , don't worry we're just taking a shortcut back to the school . It's so secret that only a few people know about it " **the teacher explained**

 **For some reason Makoto was getting a bad feeling from this and was about to ask the teacher when all of a sudden**

 ***POP!***

 **The sound resonated throughout the bus and the bus was spinning out of control** " What's happening !" **Sato screamed from her seat** " A tire blew out ! Everybody hold on !" **The teacher yelled as everybody got back to their seats and buckled their sit belts**

 **Everything was shaking within the bus and people were screaming and some of the girls were crying as Eikichi tried his best to pull the bus to a stop but the bus only crashed into the railing at the side and tumbled down the side of the road**

 **Everything was shaking and moving , and the last thought that Makoto had was that deep down his mind he knew …**

 **That despair was about to hit his entire class**

 **That was his last thought before he blacked out ….**


	2. Chapter 2 - Trapped in the forest !

**Chapter 2 – Trapped in the forest of death**

 **Hi ! It's me again I wanted to get the next chapter out as quickly as I could so I got to work right away after I published the first chapter !**

 **AUTHORS NOTES : I don't own anything and secondly I will be updating this story as often as I can so hopefully you won't have to wait long in between chapters**

 **Also I know that in the first chapter I said things would be told by Naegi's POV but I couldn't do so since the crash scene needed a bit more 3** **rd** **person**

 **Also one last thing before I go this story will have some major character death so don't favor any characters in this story since any of them can die at anytime**

 **And who survives and dies has already been determined**

 **With that let's get this show on the road !**

* * *

 **Naegi's thoughts were interrupted when the bus arrived to pick him up**

 **He picked up his bag and boarded the bus , he noticed there luckily wasn't anyone else on the bus**

 **He told the driver instructions to go to a certain location . At first the driver was reluctant but after Naegi handed a couple thousand yen , he immediately shut up and started driving**

 **Naegi sat down at the window seat and looked at the forest as the bus moved to his destination**

 **He continued his thoughts as to what happened that led him to where he was going now**

* * *

 **3 Years ago ….**

 **(DAY 1 )**

 **Naegi's POV ….**

 **I woke up with a serious headache** " Ugh , what the hell happened " **I asked not expecting an answer , I looked around and saw that everyone but me was conscious , I also noticed that the bus had flipped over and was now laying on its side**

 **I looked over to where Sato was sitting just a few minutes ago , she was leaned up against her seat right next to Honoka Miyu**

 **I picked myself up and headed over to her and checked her and Honoka for a pulse**

 **(THUMP )**

 **(THUMP)**

 **I sighed in relief** " Thank god they're alright " **I thought carefully for a moment** ' I need to get as many people away from the bus as possible , the fuel may cause an explosion ' **I thought but then realized I couldn't smell any gas so I didn't need to worry about that**

 **I looked up at the window and carefully took out my knife and smashed the glass with it , I then threw both Sato and Miyu over my shoulder and carried them out of the bus by using the seats as stepping stools**

 **Once we were out I laid them down outside the bus and began checking them for injuries**

 **I let out another sigh of relief after finding out they didn't have any injuries , mostly just a few scrapes here and there**

 **I looked back at the bus and realized I needed to wake the other , assuming some of them survived**

 **I reentered the bus and began probing them for signs of life , luckily by doing so I woke them up in the process**

" Makoto ? What the hell are you doing ? " **Seiga said as he regained consciousness as well as a few others**

 **I quickly explained the situation to them** " Alright , everyone get out of the bus now !" **Fumito said to everyone as we began exiting the bus via the windows by using the sits as stepping stools again**

" AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" **Someone cried out in pain which made the rest who were still in the bus jump in surprise**

 **I quickly located the source of the sound and realized it came from Asako** " Asako – san , what's wrong ?" **Itsumi said with concern in her voice , while the others had worried looks**

 **Asako winced in pain as she tried to move her legs** " I can't move my legs !They hurt so much when I try to move them !" **Asako cried out in pain once more**

 **I quickly made the connection** " I think Asako broke her legs on the way down " **I explained to the others**

" Alright Seiga and Akio ! Help me get her outside !" **Fumito ordered the two boys to which the complied**

"Alright ! Everybody else look for wounded and help get them the outside !" **I ordered everyone else who was still in the bus to which they all complied**

 **Afterwards , we found two more people who were wounded namely Meiko who caught some glass in her stomach during the crash and Hiroshi who suffered some head injuries but said he was fine**

* * *

(LATER )

 **After everyone piled out of the bus , we laid down the wounded and Fumito began to do a headcount as some of the others were either panicking or …. panicking even worse**

" 26…. 27 ….. 28 . Wait we're missing three people " **he said aloud**

" Yeah , the teacher , Haruko and Kotone aren't here " **Ayaka said**

" They might still be in the bus " **Haruto suggested**

"I'll go check , Makoto ! Could you come with me ? I could use some help " **Fumito asked to which I simply nodded and helped him reenter the bus**

 **As we entered we began searching carefully . It didn't take us long to find them**

" Teacher ! " **Fumito cried out and began to shake him to wake him up , but he wouldn't**

" Makoto , he won't wake up for some reason !" **Fumito said clearly distressed as I kneeled down and checked his pulse**

 **But I couldn't feel anything**

" Damnit , he's dead " **I said to Fumito who covered his mouth in shock as he began to back away from the body**

" This can't be happening …." **Fumito said in disbelief**

 **I quickly gripped his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye** " Fumito , we can't do anything for him now but we need to check to see if Haruko and Kotone are alright " **I told him and he snapped out of it and simply nodded his head**

 **We found Kotone and Haruko rather quickly but sadly I had to say it again** " They're both dead " **I said with sadness in my voice**

 **We climbed out of the bus and people turned to us** " Where are Haruko , Kotone and Teacher ?" **Yumiko asked with a little bit of concern and some of the other shared the same sentiment**

" I'm sorry guys but … they didn't make it " **Fumito said sadly**

 **Gasps and cries of shock resonated throughout the group , some of the girls and even the boys started crying**

 **Fumito himself looked in terrible shape**

 **As for myself , I found myself wondering**

 **What the hell are we gonna do ?**

* * *

 **It had been about half an hour since Fumito had announced the deaths of our classmates and teacher , my classmates were picking each other up but very slowly**

" So what do you think we should do now Makoto ?" **A voice whispered in my ear which made me jump but not scream**

 **I looked to my side and saw Sato standing next to me with an amused grin on her face** " Not funny " **I said bluntly but she just gave me a cheeky smile** " But the look on your face was sooo worth it " **she said cheerily**

' Well I guess the only thing we can count as good news is that Sato has managed to stay positive in this situation ' **I said as I turned my attention back to my classmates condition**

"But in all seriousness Makoto , what are you going to do ? What are we going to do ?" **Sato asked me to which I sighed heavily** " Well first I'm going to talk to Fumito and discuss about our stay here and then I'll check on the wounded " **I said to her**

" 'Stay here ' ? What do you mean ? Makoto " **Sato asked me again to which I responded** " We won't be escaping here anytime soon , we don't have our cellphones with us since teacher strictly told us not to bring any electronics and we can't climb up back to the road we were on cause the wall is too steep and there's nothing to grab onto " **I gave it to her straight since I knew she wouldn't want to be lied to**

" Well , maybe someone will travel down that path and find us ? " **Sato offered her two cents of the conversation** " I'm sorry Sato but the chances of that happening is practically zero because like the teacher said the path we were taking was only known to a few people and even then we're so deep into the forest nobody would have a reason to travel this far into the forest " **I explained to her again**

 **Sato's smile seemed to have fallen but she quickly regained her optimism** " I'm sure we'll get out of here alive !" **she stated happily but then I realized she was holding my hand and I blushed** " As long as you're with me " **she gave me a sincere smile and I blushed an even darker shade of red**

 **I regained my composure when she let go of my hand** " A-anyway I should probably go talk to Fumito " **I said to her as I walked away**

" Alright see you later , cutie !" **she said just loud enough for me to hear**

 **I walked over and to Fumito who turned to me because he heard my approach** " Oh ! Makoto is there something you need ?" **he asked me** " No , nothing I was just wondering if you guys were taking inventory of the supplies we have on hand " **I said to him**

 **Fumito sighed heavily as he looked at the items on the ground** " We don't have much , we brought from camp " **he said to me** " Well what do we have ?" **I asked him**

 **Seiga who was with us spoke up** " Well we have a few big tents that can fit all of us , some flashlights, blankets , a rag , some empty water bottles , soup bowls, plates and a first aid kit " **he explained**

 **Fumito who was looking at me for a while asked** " So Makoto , what do you think we should do ?" **to which I replied** " Well first we need to find a fresh water source , so we don't die from dehydration then afterwards I gonna use that first aid kit to take care of the wounded " **I said to him as I looked over to the injured with concerned eyes**

" You have medical training Naegi ?" **Seiga asked** " No , just some stuff I read from books but it's better than nothing I guess "

" Fumito , Seiga I could use some help looking for that water source " **I asked them to which they both nodded**

* * *

(LATER)

 **After Fumito told the group about what we were going to do , we set out to search for water . Luckily for us we didn't have to travel too far since there was literally a river right next to where we crashed**

 **As Fumito and Seiga collected water in the bottles we brought along** ' I am one lucky bastard ' **I thought to myself**

 **When we returned I gave full credit to Fumito since I know he could use some** " Why did you give the credit to me ?" **To which I simply replied** " I don't like attention "

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" **another scream came from Meiko in pain** " I think they need you over there , here take the first aid kit " **Fumito said handing me the first aid kit , to which I nodded heading over there**

" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" **another cry of pain came from Meiko as I kneeled down next to her** " Meiko please , I need you to stay calm and quiet for me okay ?" **I asked her and she nodded**

" Alright Meiko I'm going to clean the wound now " **I said pulling up her shirt and looking at the shard of glass in her stomach** ' Not good , well at least the shard didn't go in too deep so I think I can stich this up ' **I thought as I opened a water bottle and used it to get rid of the blood around her stomach , she winced in pain a few times but stayed strong**

" Alright Meiko , now I'm going to need to remove the shard of glass okay ?" **she nodded once more , I looked over to Honoka and Itsumi who was also with the wounded** " And I need you guys to hold her down , okay " **I asked them**

" Don't worry we'll help as much as we can !" **Honoka said to me and Itsumi simply nodded as they both held Meiko by the shoulders and held her down**

" Okay on 3 …. 1 …. 2 …. 3 !" **I yelled as I pulled the shard of glass out and quickly placed a rag over it to stop the bleeding , luckily for me she the cut wasn't so deep so she didn't bleed up**

 **After cleaning the blood up with the bottle of water , there was no more bleeding . I sighed in relief** " Okay now we need to sterilize the wound , this is gonna hurt a bit " **I said gently as I poured some rubbing alcohol to clean the wound**

" AAAAAAHHHHH" **she lightly screamed out a bit but did her best to suppress the pain** " I'm gonna need to stich the wound up now , so just try not to move to much " **I said as I pulled out a long length of thread and a needle from the first aid kit**

 **Itsumi and Honoka looked at me with concern , silently wondering if I knew what I was doing** "Don't worry girls , I know what I'm doing " **I reassured them as I started to stich up Meiko**

 **To my surprise she didn't scream or struggle much , just squirmed around a bit from time to time . After I made sure the stich was secure I pulled out a bandage roll and wrapped it up**

 **I looked over to Meiko who had a grateful smile on her face** " Thank you Makoto , thank you so much !" **she said to me to which I simply nodded at her with a smile and moved on to help Asako**

 **However before I did that I went grabbed a few long straight sticks to tie to her leg so that it healed up properly**

 **As I approached her , she looked over to me** " What do you want Naegi ?" **she said with spite in her voice** " I want to help you , since you're wounded " **I said kneeling down next to her**

" I don't want your help " **she spat back at me** " Well , I'm pretty sure you don't want to die out here , so just let me help you !" **I yelled at her which got the attention of some the people around us**

 **I looked back to Asako who had a defeated face** " Just do what you have to " **she said to me softly**

 **I nodded and as quick as I could reset her leg but she screamed in pain** " AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH ! NAEGI YOU STUPID ! AHOGED MOTHERFUCKER !" **she screamed at me in pain and anger**

" Relax Asako " **I said as I tied the sticks to her legs**

 **As I did so she asked** " Where's Kotone and Haruko ?" **she asked with concern**

 **I gave her a straight answer right then and there** " I'm sorry Asako but they didn't make it " **I said with sadness in my voice**

 **She gasped in shock and began to cry , I looked at her as she cried** ' I don't if this is the right call or not but ….' **I gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she cried over her fallen friends**

 **Afterwards I approached Hiroshi but after seeing that I couldn't do anything for him other than bandage up his head**

 **After that was finished , I helped set up the tents for the night and helped make a fire**

 **Nobody spoke during that time , since we all knew the chances of escape or a rescue team coming were practically zero**

 **Then one by one , we piled into the tents as each of us slipped into the land of dreams …**

 **Hoping to wake up from this nightmare ….**

* * *

(DAY 2 )

 **The next morning we woke up , Fumito did a headcount of everybody until ….**

" 24 …. 25 … 26 . Wait a minute , where the hell is Junichi and Daichi ?" **Fumito asked the group**

" They aren't in the tents " **Kakichi said climbing out of one**

" Well where are they ?! " **Seiga cried out in worry**

 **Everybody began panicking , even Sato clung to my arm and looked at me with worried eyes**

" Everybody ! Please calm down ! Listen we're all going to go look for them but we need to two people to stay behind to look after the wounded " **Fumito announced**

" Sato , Ayaka , Honoka can you three stay with the wounded while the rest of us search ?" **Fumito asked the three girls to which they simply responded with nods while wearing serious faces**

* * *

 **After that we began searching , we split up into pairs and I got stuck with Akio**

 **We were down by the stream to look for any signs of Junichi and Daichi**

' Guess I'll be spending some time with Akio ' **I thought to myself**

" Goddamnit Naegi ! Why is this happening to us ! I mean why us of all people " **Akio yelled out**

' I guess Akio is just trying to vent some frustrations ' **I thought**

 **I sighed heavily before answering** " Sometimes Akio bad things happen to good people and there isn't a good reason for any of it "

" But we are good people , so what did we do to deserve this !" **he yelled out as he kicked a stone in the stream**

 **I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder** " The only thing we can do now is simply survive and keep hoping "

 **Akio took a few deep breaths before relaxing a bit** " Okay I think I'm good now , thanks Makoto " **he said with a smile**

" Don't mention it " **I responded back with a smile and we continued searching for our lost friends**

 **It was only a few minutes until ….**

" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

 **A scream pierced the silence of the forest**

"What the hell was that ?!" **Akio questioned ,clearly startled**

" I don't know but I think it came from over there , follow me !" **I told Akio as we both began running in the direction of the scream**

 **When we reached the source of the scream , we found a terrified Amelia sitting on her bottom with terror clearly occupying her face . It didn't take long for the rest of the class to gather around Amelia**

" Amelia ! What's wrong ? Are you okay ?" **Oliver asked kneeling next to her trying to comfort her**

" D-d-daichi and J-j-junichi , are …." **She stammered out but couldn't finish her sentence , instead she simply pointed in a certain direction**

 **Me and Seiga carefully approached the direction she pointed at and what we found was …**

 **Junichi and Daichi both dead ….**

 **My classmates who were approaching with us at a slower rate screamed out in surprise**

" Oh my god ! Daichi !" **Seiga screamed out**

 **I slowly approached their bodies and checked for a pulse**

 **But felt nothing**

" Are they ?" **Naoko inquired hoping it wasn't what she thought it was**

" Yeah , they're both dead " **I stated and that got gasps and cries of shock**

" How did they die !? I mean they look like they don't have any injuries on them !" **Kakichi gave his observation , note with a bit of panic in his voice**

 **I looked around at the bushes and noticed that they had some berries growing on them , I then noticed that Junichi and Daichi had some in their hands too**

" They both died by poisoning " **I informed them**

" How were they poisoned ? There's nothing around here that looks poisonous " **Mizuki said**

" That's because they ate the poison " **I said plucking out one of the berries and holding it up high for everyone to see** " These types of berries are extremely poisonous , my best guess is that Daichi and Junichi got hungry and decided to eat them " **I informed them**

 **Because for the last two days nobody had ate anything , everybody could agree with my theory of what happened to Daichi and Junichi**

 **Afterwards , we only slowly went back to camp with sad faces**

 **That night Fumito made a rule saying we shouldn't eat anything we find out in the forest without telling the others first**

 **I broke the news to Sato and … she didn't take it well**

 **She cried into my shoulder that night**

 **After she went to sleep I helped some of the guys move the bodies the deceased to a far location so we wouldn't have to smell or look at them**

 **At that time of night all of us were asleep …**

 **Well everyone but me ..**

 **I looked at the moon and thought about how beautiful it was …**

 **But the grumbling of my stomach stopped me from thinking such a thing**

 **Our chances of survival decrease day by day and I can't help but wonder …**

 **Are any of us gonna make it out of this forest alive ?**

* * *

 **And that is a wrap boys and girls**

 **I'll be getting the next chapter out very soon so don't expect to wait long**

 **With that goodbye ….**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Starved Hope

**Chapter 3 – A Starved Hope**

 **Hey guys , sorry for being so late to update , I know I said I the next update would come a lot faster but I got caught up in a bunch of personal stuff**

 **Hopefully future updates will come much faster**

 **SIDE NOTE : By the way , I want to finish this story before I begin writing for ' Danganronpa : Operation Warhead ' again since I can only handle one fanfic at a time**

 **With that lets continue !**

* * *

 **(DAY 5 )**

 **Its been a full week since my entire class was thrown into this Horrific Forest , some of us would even compare to hell ...**

 **Three of us died during the initial crash which including my teacher and two other classmates …**

 **Another two died a day later because they ate poisonous berries cause they were both hungry...**

(GROWL! )

 **I look down at my own stomach …**

 **Can't say I blame them for being hungry and eating the berries … most of us have never had dealt with such a situation like this before so …**

 **I look over to my remaining classmates …**

 **13 males and another 13 females , 3 of which are injured , which totals to 26 survivors …**

 **I noticed that some of my classmates are having trouble walking , probably due to a lack of food while some other are having trouble just standing up …**

 **We've haven't eaten anything for the past 5 days and some of the weaker ones ain't gonna last much longer ...**

 **I got up from the tree that I had been leaning on and walked over to Fumito who was discussing something Kakichi**

 **Noticing my approach he turned and greeted me " Oh ! Hi Naegi , is there something you need ?" he said in a friendly tone**

 **I noticed that Fumito was trying his best to lead the class for the past few days since he was already elected as the class rep … but I noticed that he was clearly as scared as the rest of us ...**

 **' He's probably just trying to be brave for the rest of us ' I thought in my head**

 **I pulled him and Kakichi to the side so nobody could hear what we were saying…**

 **I gave him a full rundown of our current situation , and even told him that I was worried some of us weren't going to last long without food ...**

 **I gave it to them straight , in an analytical tone ...**

 **Fumito and Kakichi were silent as I spoke and they also looked down at the ground with troubled faces**

 **Fumito let out a tired sigh " I know what you mean Naegi , but I honestly have no idea on what to do here " Kakichi just stayed silent "I mean I'm grasping at straws here on what to do , but I honestly have no clue " Fumito said in a saddened tone**

 **"But I do " I said to them which made them both look to me in surprise**

 **"You do ?" Kakichi said with a little hope in his voice " Yes, its an idea I've had on my mind for a while now , listen closely " I said as I began explaining my plan to them**

 **They both had puzzled looks on their faces as if wondering if my idea had any plausibility to it**

 **But eventually they both agreed and Fumito and Kakichi gathered everyone to announce of the current food situation**

* * *

 **After everyone was gathered ( Minus the wounded ) Sato was the first one to speak up**

 **" Fumito what's going on ? Why did you call us all together ? " she questioned to which Fumito stepped in front of the group**

 **"Alright everybody listen . As you all know we've been starving for days now " Fumito said loud enough for the class to hear**

 **" Gee , no shit " Oliver cursed in a low voice to which his sister gave him a slight glare before returning their attention**

 **"So me , Naegi and Kakichi have been discussing and we've decided that the best course of action at the moment is to fish and hunt for our meals " Fumito said to the group**

 **"Why do we need to hunt ? I mean there should be a rescue team out there looking for us so all we need to do for now is just wait " Haruki pitched his own opinion in**

 **"But who knows, how long that'll take ? It could take months before we're rescued from this place " Seiga butted in**

 **Some people shifted uncomfortably at the thought of having to wait here for several months ...**

 **"Putting that aside , we still need food and at this point our only options are to fish and hunt for it " Fumito said**

 **Mostly everybody nodded their heads in agreement and Fumito smiled softly at his classmates agreement**

 **"Anyway we're going to need weapons to hunt . Any ideas ?" Kakichi said to the group**

 **I quickly entered the conversation " I sharpened a bunch of long stick so that they have a sharp point " I showed them one of the makeshift harpoons I made " These should be sharp enough to hunt fish and prey we find " I said as I handed Fumito some more harpoons**

 **"These are excellent Naegi ! Good job !" Fumito exclaimed happily after he examined the harpoon**

 **"Yeah , good job Naegi !" Sato said stepping next to me**

 **"You did good man " Seiga said as well with a smile**

 **I blushed slightly at the praise but quickly beat it down as best as I could**

 **" Moving along " Kakichi said before this gets out of hand " We're going to need two different groups. One group fishes down by the stream while the other team tries to catch game in the forest ."**

 **"So … any volunteers ?" I awkwardly ask**

* * *

 **Afterwards the teams were split up into two groups as planned**

 **The first team , also designated as the ' Fishing Team ' were meant to use the harpoons I made to kill fish that swam along the stream we used to collect water**

 **The Fishing Team was made up of 4 people, namely , Haruto , Itaru , Naoko and Shizue**

 **The second team also designated as the 'Hunting Team ' were meant to hunt down prey so we could eat them , we used the backpacks we took along with us for the camping trip as a bag for storage for when we cut up the prey to remove the skin and meat**

 **The Hunting Team was made up of Fumito, Kakichi , Seiga and myself**

 **We just finished skinning a rabbit and as we were placing the meat in the bag , we heard the distinct noise of movement not far from us**

 **"Did you guys hear that ?" I asked quietely to which said guys nodded in silently**

 **We approached the source of the noise carefully and as we took cover behind some bushes , I looked above the bushes and saw a majestic deer**

 **So lovely , so freely moving … so …**

 **Delicious to eat …**

 **A withdrew my knife as Fumito told Seiga and Kakichi to cover its escape ...**

 **They both moved to cover its escape routes and as soon as they were in position , I climbed up the tree until I was sitting on the branch directly above the poor deer's head …**

 **I waited and …**

(STAB ! )

 **I jumped down and immediately sank my knife into its neck …**

 **It struggled at first but eventually it succumbed to the blood loss within a few minutes …**

 **None of us said anything as we cut up the poor deer's body for its meat and fur**

 **Seiga diverted his eyes elsewhere , Kakichi couldn't stand looking at it , Fumito was trying his best to keep himself together as I cut up the deer's body with guiltless eyes …**

 **We took a life of an innocent animal that was just at the wrong place at the wrong time …**

 **We silently walked back to camp in comforting silence …**

 **Luckily when we got back , the other team had already returned …**

 **"Guys ! Check out all the fish we caught !" Haruto said happily to the group as he held up a bag full of fish . The group had smiles of relief and empty stomachs waiting to be filled …**

 **"What do you know ? We might actually all survive this " Seiga said with a voice enthusiasm and hope …**

 **I smiled at the at Seiga's enthusiasm as I rested the bag of rabbit and deer meat down , he had always been the guy in our class who wanted to be a hero . Like his father who is a decorated police officer …**

 **The feeling of someone nudging my arm , pulled me out of my line of thought . Looking at who did it I saw Sato standing next to me with a kind smile …**

 **I looked at the happiness of my classmates , who had faces full of hope that they would survive …**

 **But deep down I knew … that this hope wouldn't last long …**

* * *

(HOURS LATER )

 **After a much needed meal in the evening , Fumito announced that the teams would continue hunting … Like on a regular basis to ensure survival**

 **People were … having fun … I know its kinda stupid to try to have fun in a situation like this but still …**

 **I noticed that the girls were painting each others nails , some of the boys were engaged in a card game and some of the other few were tending to their own matters …**

 **" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A bloodcurling scream broke the silence and a few people jumped at the sudden scream**

 **I looked over to the source and saw Hiroshi on his knees while grabbing his head in utter pain as he screamed …**

 **"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" he let out another scream of pain and almost immediately all of us instinctively run over to him to try and figure out what's wrong …**

 **" Hiroshi ! What's wrong !** **Ayaka asked with concern , kneeling down next to him**

 **"I don't know ! AAAAAAHHHHH! My head just started hurting a lot ! And- an-d t-hen … " he couldn't continue his sentence as he lost consciousness …**

 **"What the hell ! What's wrong with him !" Seiga screamed in panic hoping for answer …**

 **I kneel down next to him to examine his head and sadly found the source of Hirohi's pain …**

 **"Damnit , Hiroshi is suffering from internal bleeding from inside his skull . It's probably the reason he passed out …" I said sadly to my classmates...**

 **They cried out in shock as others like Fumito and Kakichi was struggling trying to figure out what to do …**

 **"I-is there anything we can do for him ?" Amelia asked me with a hint of hope in her voice which made me feel even more guilty about my reply**

 **"Without the proper medical equipment , I'm afraid we can't do anything for him .." I said with clear sadness in my voice**

 **None of us said anything …**

 **All we could do now for Hiroshi was wait …**

 **We placed his passed out body inside the tent , where we had moved all of our wounded …**

 **We all fell asleep soon after … holding on to hope as best as we could …**

* * *

 **(DAY 6)**

 **Hiroshi died the next day …**

 **We quickly moved his body to the place , where we had designated as the spot to lay our dead …**

 **Me , Fumito and Seiga were the ones to move our fallen friends corpse …**

 **As I helped carry his body , I could visibly see the pain in my classmates eyes …**

 **The girls eyes were tearing up at the sight , while some of the boys were throwing up …**

 **When we were finished I couldn't help but want to be alone ..**

 **I sat up on a branch near the campsite , as I stared at the moon again …**

 **Our hunger may have been quenched …**

 **But our hope was slowly dying out …**


	4. Chapter 4 - On the Edge

_Chapter 4 – On the Edge_

 _Hey guys , sorry this chapter is a little late , I know , but this chapter was longer than the rest so I had to work on it more_

 _Moving on , some of you were asking about my continuation of 'LizzyLovesPink ' story ' And the Records Say They're Happy ,But What do they know ?'_

 _And well its going to take a while , since I already have two stories I haven't finished yet , and starting a new story would just add to the workload and delay the release of new chapters on all three stories_

 _So , I would like to finish this story and my other story ' Operation Warhead ' , before shifting my full attention on to that story_

 _So please be patient and I will get both these stories finished as soon as possible_

* * *

 **(DAY 14)**

 **Counting today , it will have been two full weeks since we've been plunged into this Forest of Death …**

 **We have already lost 6 people in just a few days …**

 **Teacher …. Junichi … Hiroshi … Daichi … Haruko …. Kotone …**

 **All of them died so quickly and yet it seems so fucked up , how nobody could even save them …**

 **Teacher , Kotone and Haruko died during the initial crash …**

 **Junichi and Daichi died after eating poisonous berries due to hunger …**

 **Hiroshi succumbed to his wounds , that he received during the crash …**

 **All of them died in ways , that seem so preventable yet it seems as though nothing could have been done to save them in perspective …**

 **And somehow that remains to be the least of my worries …**

 **Even now , I wonder if any of us are going to survive this ?**

* * *

 **(DAY 15)**

 **The next day , Fumito sent me ,Oliver and Seiga hunting for animals …**

 **He had been keeping us on a schedule , so that we had a consistent food supply …**

 **He sent us to an area , where he thought was a good place to hunt for food …**

 **And sure enough … he was right to say the least …**

 **While our catch mostly consisted of small bunnies and squirrels , our real problems arose just an hour into our hunt …**

 **"God ! Guys , this is tiring as hell !" Seiga complained , while he wasn't usually one to complain , considering the situation we were in…I couldn't blame him**

 **"Maybe , we should take a break for now " Oliver suggested as we all agreed equally**

 **We set our gear down next to us which consisted of mainly spears and bags filled with meat , as we leaned up against a tree to get some shade from the sunlight**

 **Seiga let out tired sigh " Guys , I'm gonna be honest … I'm sure how much more of this I can take " he said with a tired tone**

 **True enough , Seiga was never one to be lazy , but even he had his limits … he was always the type of guy who would stand up for the little guy , just like his dad...**

 **"Don't worry man , I feel the same way too , but we can't give up , not when we're still alive and breathing " I said to him**

 **"Makoto's right , we can't give in man " Oliver agreed , putting a hand on Seiga's shoulder**

 **Seiga took a few deep breaths , calming himself " Alright , I'm good thanks guys "**

 **"I guess its good to get away from the camp for a while , even I'm not sure how much more of this shit I can take " Oliver said**

 **"Me too man … me too " I agreed with them**

 **For the briefest of moments , it felt … peaceful . Like nothing could harm us …**

 **(RUSTLE !)**

 **I spoke to soon …**

 **"Did you guys hear that ?" Seiga asked picking up his spear , we both nodded as we all tensed up and approached the noise with Seiga at the front …**

 **We stayed behind Seiga , as he walked closer to the source of the noise , which happened to come from behind some bushes …**

 **As Seiga stepped closer … and … closer to the bush , we couldn't help but lag behind him...**

 **"RRRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRR!" An ear shattering roar , sliced through the silence like a knife as a vicious bear , jumped out from behind the bush and onto Seiga …**

 **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Seiga let out a bloodcurdling scream as the bear started to sink his teeth into his neck …**

 **But I stood there … petrified at what was happening … seeing one of my closest friends dying right before me …**

 **Oliver was completely frozen with terror as well … like he was completely paralyzed by fear …**

 **But Seiga's scream brought me back to reality , as I quickly pulled out my knife and jumped on the bears back and slit its throat from behind …**

 **My sudden move caused Oliver to snap out of it as well , as he grabbed his spear and started violently stabbing the bears side …**

 **It only took about a few seconds before the bear went limp , and died …**

 **We quickly remove the bear from on top of Seiga's bloody body …**

 **"Aaaagghhh !" Seiga chocked out , blood pouring from his mouth …**

 **"Seiga ! Hold on ! We'll get you back to camp ! Just stay awake! " Oliver tried to reassure him , but one look at him and you could tell he wasn't going to make it**

 **"Nah man … its too late for me …" he breathed out in pain**

 **He looked over to me , with a smile on his face " Hey Makoto …. make sure you get everybody out ….… you hear me ?" he asked looking into my eyes**

 **"I'll save everybody man … that's a promise " I said as I gripped his hand**

 **He let out a sad chuckle " Ha … ha … ha … Just like old Makoto … always tries to stay optimistic "**

 **I slowly felt him go limp and when I noticed he stopped moving , I checked his pulse to confirm it ….**

…

…

…

 **Nothing …**

 **Pure death …**

 **Silence followed , shortly after , as me and Oliver wordlessly walked away from his body …**

 **Oliver was pale a ghost …**

 **While I was … was just emotionless … yet I could feel the images of my dead classmates being burned into my memories …**

 **It is quite an interesting feeling , that's for sure …**

 **We simply got up and started walking back to camp in comforting silence ...**

 **You could pretty much guess at this point , what my classmates reactions were …**

 **Some were sad and crying , others were speechless at the loss of another classmate…**

…

…

…

 **Fumito went out later to help take Seiga's body to the area , we designated as a place to store our dead …**

 **Me and a few others went back to the bears body to collect meat off it … can't let good meat go to waste , can we ?**

 **Now I sit here on a tree branch , alone in the darkness , staring up into the moon …**

 **It looks so close … and yet so far …**

 **It is quite ironic how it represents ,how slim our chances of survival are …**

 **Well there is one thing I learned today …**

 **Irony is just as much a bitch , as fate is …**

* * *

 **(DAY 17 )**

 **After what happened with Seiga , two days ago , everybody's been on edge with the forest , some have even been scared to go take a piss...**

 **Fumito's been trying his hardest to keep the group together … but its been hard on him …**

 **So today , I decided to try talking to him to see if I could help …**

 **"Hey Fumito , do you need help with anything ?" I ask him , as I walk up to him**

 **"Oh , hi Makoto … Uh , listen can I talk to you in private ?" Fumito asked me as he ushered me to the side**

 **When he was sure nobody could hear ,what we were saying , he spoke " Listen Makoto , I'm going to be honest , the group is falling the fuck apart …" he told me in a blunt manner**

 **"Everybody's paranoid , scared , they don't know what to do and everybody's on edge " Fumito explained with a worried voice**

 **"Calm down , man … Listen what do you need me to do ?" I asked putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder**

 **He took a few deep breaths " Okay , I'm good " he told me**

 **"So what do you need me to do ?" I asked again**

 **"I just need you to go around and talk to some people , you know just try to get them to relax a bit " he explained**

 **"Alright , don't worry man , I'll talk to them " I reassured him with a smile**

 **"Thanks man , I really appreciate it " he gave me a smile as well**

* * *

 _'So who should I start with ?'_

 **I look around and spot Meiko , nearby leaning against a tree , she recently got better from her injuries but she told she still felt a little sore in her stomach...**

 **I figured she could use some company …**

 **"Hi , Meiko , mind if I sit with you ?" I ask her**

 **"Hi Makoto, sure take a spot " she replied with a smile**

 **We sat there , for a few good seconds , neither of us saying anything …**

 _'This is gong terribly … I need to say something '_

 **"So Meiko , how are you doing ?" I asked a stupid question**

 **To my question , Meiko stared down at the dirt , while looking deep in thought**

 **"To be completely honest , no I'm not okay …" she replied in a sad tone**

 **"We lost a lot of friends in such a short time, I mean Seiga was literally the enthusiasm of the group and now that he's gone … its just hard you know ?" she sounded like she was about to cry**

 **I put a comforting hand on her shoulder " Listen , I know I probably shouldn't tell you this , but Seiga knew he was going to die …" she looked at me in shock as soon as I said that …**

 **"Well no , he didn't know he was going to die at that exact moment but … he knew he wasn't going to make it , but he wanted everyone to try and survive this " I told her in a firm yet comforting voice**

 **"I'm sure that all the others that died would have wanted that too" I said to her**

 **"Can you try your best to honor , his last wish ?" I ask her in a soft voice**

 **She took a few deep breaths " Y-yeah , I'll try my best to survive this … we all will " she shot me a smile**

 **"Thanks Makoto , you always know exactly what to say to cheer people up" she told me with a smile**

 **I looked away and blushed a little bit at her smile " N-no I don't think , I'm that good " I refuted**

 **"Nope , you always know , just what to say " she said with a smile leaning in a bit closer**

 **I tried changing the subject " Anyways , lets try talking about something different now …" I said still blushing a bit**

 **"Okay !" she replied with her usual cheery tone**

 **I couldn't help but smile a bit , Meiko had always been a cheerful person , who always tried to see the best in a situation … so its good to see her return to her personality …**

 **We kept talking for a good hour or so , before I parted ways with her to go speak to the others …**

* * *

 **I looked around once more , spotting Naoko sitting with Yumiko , talking to each other …**

 **She's usually sitting with her since Yumiko's her best friend …**

 **Those two were like peas in a pot , and they really hit it off the moment they met at the start of the school year so it was fun to see at least some of them were still trying to maintain their optimism**

 **Without thinking it all the way through , I walked over to the two …**

 **"Hi Naoko , hi Yumiko " I greeted the both of them with a smile**

 **"Hi Makoto " they both said in unison**

 **I couldn't help but smile , at how they were in sync " So how , are you two doing ?" I ask**

 **"Well ,we could be better " Yumiko responded " Well , I'm just glad we're both together " Naoko said to me**

 **"So how long , do you reckon before we're rescued ?" Yumiko asked me , she always had that kind of straightforward attitude toward serious situations**

 **While I couldn't stand the thought of bringing their hopes down , I couldn't lie to them either ...**

 **So after a deep sigh " I honestly don't now guys , I mean we were driving on an unmarked road that is only known by a few people , and we're still deep in the forest "**

 **"So how long do you think ? "Naoko asked**

 **"Months at best " I responded honestly**

 **To my surprise they didn't seem demotivated or saddened at my response whatsoever , instead they both just smiled at me...**

 **"Don't worry Naegi , I'm sure we'll make it out of here alive " Yumiko said putting a hand on my shoulder , which made me flush a little bit**

 **"Yeah , I agree with Yumiko, Makoto , we're all going to survive this " Naoko said throwing an arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer to them , which made me blush even more**

 **"Awww~! I think he's blushing Yumiko ! Maybe all three of us should have some fun together" Naoko said with a mischievous smile , while Yumiko had a similar smile**

 **I'm not escaping this , aren't I ?**

 **Naoko and Yumiko , then forced me to listen to a bunch of girl talk , who was the cutest guy and shit like that and while I didn't enjoy it , it was worth it to make two of my classmates a little bit more happy …**

 **That sense of satisfaction , lasted me until I went to sleep …**

 **As rested in the tent , I couldn't help but feel happy …**

* * *

 **(DAY 20 )**

 **Well for the last couple of days , I've been bonding with my classmates more and more , doing my best to cheer them up …**

 **I was talking with Akio , when Fumito came up to me …**

 **"Hi Makoto , can I talk to you for a moment , in private ?" he asked me as I nodded and followed him**

 **"Sure man , what do you need ?" I answered as soon as we were in private ...**

 **"Yeah , well I need your help again , yesterday I found out we're on high ground, I figured it out when I was taking piss , I came across a ledge that gave a good view of the entire forest " he said**

 **"Well , what's the problem then ?" I asked wondering where he was going with this**

 **" When I was looking around on the ledge , I spotted what maybe a way out of this forest " Fumito told me**

 **"Wait what ?How ?" I asked again**

 **"Like I said when I was looking around on the ledge , I think I spotted where the forest ends , but it was on the far end of the forest " he told me**

 **"Well , what do you need me to do ? " I asked once more**

 **"I need you and a couple others to go and map out the forest , it could help us escape from here, I can't leave since I need to stay and manage everyone else " he asked**

 **"Alright , alert everybody of our plan , we'll be back soon " I told him**

 **"Thanks man " He said to me in a grateful tone**

* * *

 **After alerting everybody of our mission and giving me directions to where the ledge was located, me , Kakichi , Oliver , Naoko , Yumiko and Amelia , headed to the location …**

 **We were walking for a few minutes , when Kakichi decided the silence was absolute bullshit and decided to lighten the mood a bit …**

 **"This is bullshit , anybody got anything to talk about? " Kakichi said , throwing his hands over his head**

 **I sighed a bit ,Kakichi was considered Fumito's right hand man , but even he had his limits …**

 **Kakichi was always one of those kids who followed the rules and stuff like that , but even he couldn't deny , he wanted to cut loose every now and again ..**

 **"Well , we could talk about the weather " Naoko said in a sarcastic tone**

 **" Hilarious Naoko , Makoto you got anything ? Makoto ?" he tried calling out to me , but noticed that I had been walking way ahead of him**

 **I looked further ahead of our path and noticed some light coming out from behind some trees " Guys over there ! I think that's where the vantage point is located " I called over to them**

 **As soon as we , walked past the trees and into the light , we came face to face with a blazing sun , beaming down on us and a ledge that lead to a pretty far below**

 **I walked closer to the ledge and looked down , it was at least a fifty foot drop to the bottom and at the bottom was where the forest continued …**

 **"Makoto , be careful " Amelia told me from behind**

 **"Don't worry Amelia , I got this " I reassured her**

 **"That's a pretty steep fall , but I think we could climb down if we're careful " Yumiko suggested**

 **"No , I think its too big a risk , I mean if we slip …" Oliver didn't need to finish that sentence**

 **"Maybe , there's another path to the bottom" I suggested**

 **"Hopefully ,anyway we got a job to do , lets map out the forest and than get out of here " Kakichi spoke up**

 **We all nodded as we began mapping out the forest , using some paper and pens we brought ….**

 **We spotted a lot of things on our little vantage point , pathways , animals to avoid , stuff like that and we even found a pathway to the bottom , further along the side of area we were on …**

 **"Alright guys , I think that's enough , lets head back " I suggested**

 **"Hey guys wait ! Look ! " Yumiko shouted at us and pointed at the sunset**

 **It was really … beautiful , its kind of strange what kind of things you can find in a situation like this …**

 **"Wow ! Its beautiful !" Naoko said standing right on the edge of the cliff**

 **"I couldn't agree more !" Yumiko said walking to stand next to her**

 **"Big bro ! C'mon ! I wanna see closer !" Amelia whined pulling Oliver by his arm to join the two other girls on the edge**

 **"Guys , come on , lets get out of here " Kakichi said walking up the group to tell them to go back …**

 **I however , stood back , I was still within arms reach to the group , I couldn't help but feel mesmerized by the sunset …**

 **True beauty , I suppose ….**

 **CRAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKK!**

 **As if , out of nowhere , the entire ledge started to collapse …**

 **Naoko , Yumiko , Kakichi , Oliver and Amelia realized this but it was too late …**

 **They already started falling to the bottom of the ledge …**

 **But without thinking straight , I quickly grabbed Oliver and Amelia hands …**

 **The entire ledge gave way as Naoko , Yumiko and Kakichi started rolling down and hitting the bottom …**

 **I was now in a crouching position over the edge , literally holding two lives in my hands …**

 **"Holy Shit ! Amelia are you alright! " Oliver asked in a panic , holding on for dear life**

 **"I-I'm fine b-but the others …" She couldn't help but look at those that had fallen to the bottom and tears started stinging her eyes as soon as she got a good look at them …**

 **"A-Amelia d-don't look at them ,j-just both of you try to climb up " I said to them**

 **They both tried to the best of their abilities , but it was no use … it couldn't be done …**

 **"SONNUVABITCH ! We can't climb up man ! " Oliver shouted at me**

 **CRAAAAAAACKKKKK!**

 **"SHIT ! I think the edge is cracking ! " I shouted at them , which made them both panic a bit more**

 **"Try to pull us up ! " Oliver yelled at me**

 **"I c-can't " I said as I gave all my strength trying to pull them up**

 **I felt my grip starting to loosen on both of them " SHIT ! I'm losing my grip on the both of you !" I yelled again**

 **Amelia face was filled with terror , while Oliver's looked like he was deep in thought …**

 **What are we going to do ?**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **"Let me go "**

 **I gave Oliver a shocked look as he looked back at me with a serious face …**

 **"What ! Hell no ! I ain't letting you go !" I yell back at him**

 **"Goddamnit Makoto ! If you don't let me go , we're all going to die !" He shouted back at me**

 **"Makoto! Don't listen to him ! Just hang on ! " Amelia shouted at me**

 **Oliver's voice turned from serious to sad " I'm sorry Amelia but I can't let you die " he said facing Amelia in a sad tone**

 **He turned to me and looked me in the eye " Take care of my little sister , will ya Makoto "**

 **"What the fuck ! Are you talking about man !" I shout at him**

 **"I love you little sis "**

 **I felt his hand let go , as fell to the bottom , rolling on the side , until he hit the bottom with a dull , THUD !**

 **"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO ! BIG BROTHER !**

 **At this time , the edge started collapsing , so I quickly pulled Amelia up with all my upper body strength and pulled her away from the collapsing edge …**

 **Amelia's face was one filled with shock and despair , she was completely frozen on the spot …**

 **"Holy Shit ! " I cursed , I quickly looked over the edge , at the bodies of our fallen classmates …**

 **I turn to Amelia and start shaking her to snap her out of it " Amelia ! Come on ! They could still be alive !" I said pulling her hand**

 **The possibility alone that her brother could still be alive was enough to get her moving …**

 **We made our way down the side of the area , leading to the bottom of the ledge …**

 **There at the bottom , we spotted the bodies of our fallen classmates …**

 **"There ! They're over there !" I shouted at Amelia , still holding my hand as I pulled her toward our possibly wounded friends …**

 **"BIG BROTHER ! Are you okay ! Please wake up !" Amelia said running up to her brothers body and started shaking it vigorously as if holding on to some form of hope that her brother is still alive …**

 **I checked Kakichi's body , he had landed head first and was sprawled on the ground , face down …**

 **I checked his pulse and …**

…

…

…

 **Nothing …**

 **"Kakichi's dead " I said to Amelia who was still shaking her brother …**

 **I wanted to stop her , but I still had to check the others to see if they survived …**

 **While the fall from the ledge to the bottom was high , it was survivable and that alone was enough for me to go check if they survived …**

 **I turn to Yumiko and Naoko's bodies , the way their bodies were positioned was … strange …**

 **Yumiko was holding on to Naoko by the head , which was covered by Yumiko's upper body , as Naoko's upper body was being protected by Yumiko's lower body …**

 **I wonder if Yumiko was trying too …**

 **I check Yumiko's pulse ….**

…

…

…

 **Nothing …**

 **Yumiko's dead but Naoko …**

 **I check her pulse and …**

…

…

…

 **BEAT … BEAT … BEAT …**

 **Naoko was still alive …**

 **"Makoto ! Please help me ! We have to get Oliver back to camp ! " Amelia said pulling her brother by his arm**

 **"Amelia ! Please wait ! " I asked , walking over to her and getting her to release Oliver's arm …**

 **I kneel over Oliver's body and check for a pulse …**

….

…

…

 **Nothing…**

 **"I'm sorry Amelia … but Oliver's dead" I told her in a sad tone**

 **"NOOOOO! Please ! We can't leave him !" she said crying into her dead brothers chest …**

 **"Amelia … listen , we can't do anything for Oliver but …. Yumiko and Kakichi's dead as well but Naoko … survived the fall , we need to get her out of here …" I told her in a serious tone**

 **"I can't leave him behind Makoto !" she shouted back at , with tear filled eyes …**

 **"He wouldn't you to die ! Goddamnit ! " I shout at her , gripping her shoulders**

 **She looked at me with a shocked face but I looked at her directly in the eye as I kept talking " Oliver wouldn't want you to die Amelia and he sure as hell wouldn't want Naoko to die either " I tell her in a firm yet comforting tone**

 **"Now can you please help me to carry Naoko back to camp " I ask her softly**

 **"Y-yes , o-okay " she says to me in a quiet voice as we both walked over to Naoko's unconscious body and we both threw her arms over our shoulders , Amelia taking the right while I handled the left …**

 **As walked back to camp Amelia asked me " W-what a-about the others bodies ?" she asked in a stuttering tone**

 **"We'll come back for them later , but right now we need to get Naoko back to camp " I told her as we continued our walk back …**

* * *

 **We continued our walk back to the camp and as soon we got in the line of sight of some of our friends , they all quickly ran over to us and questioned us on what happened …**

 **"Guys ! What happened !? Where's everybody else !? " Akio asked in a worried tone**

 **"What happened to Naoko !?" Shizue asked as well in a worried tone**

 **I quickly gave them a rundown of what happened and they reacted as some of you would expect …**

 **But their reactions … seemed to have died down a bit , as if they were already getting used to our situation …**

 **They quickly moved Naoko to the tent we designated as the place to store our wounded …**

 **I gave Naoko a medical checkup after she was settled into the tent , she received a few bruises here and there but it was a miracle nothing internal was broken …**

 **Amelia wasn't injured or anything just a few scrapes and the like …**

 **But … its not Amelia and Naoko's physical condition that's worrying me … its mainly their mental state of mind…**

 **Oliver was extremely important to Amelia and Yumiko was practically like a sister to Naoko …**

 **I had a feeling I need to have a talk with them later …**

 **Even now , as I stare up into the moon , I can still remember Seiga's last words...**

 _'Get everybody out … you hear me ?'_

 **I'm sorry Seiga …**

 **But I'm afraid at this point that promise is impossible to keep …**

* * *

 **REMAINING SURVIVORS : 21**

* * *

 _And that officially raps up chapter 4 ! The next chapter will probably come out before the end of the year_

 _Review , tell how I can do better and I'll see you guys in the next chapter !_


	5. Chapter 5 - Lies of The Lips

_Chapter 5 – Lies of the lips_

 _Hey guys ! I'm back again ! Sorry this chapter is a little late , but I was dealing with some existential crisis a little while ago , but I got over it_

DISCLAIMER : I don't own Danganronpa , yada … yada … yada … You guys already know how Fanfics go at this point

 _Alright ! Now for a little Q &A !_

 **Question : Have you watched the Fruit of Grisaia and is the story based of it ?**

 **Answer : Yes , I have watched the anime before and yes this story is based off episode 10 , 11 and 12**

 _Actually to say , its based off it , would be a major understatement , the basic premise of the story is based off those 3 episodes_

 _"A bunch of teenagers stuck in the forest , all dying one by one !" Yeah , I totally took that idea from the Fruit of Grisaia !_

 _Now to make one thing clear with this little confession , this is in no way simply a retelling of those 3 episodes at all_

 _I'm trying my best to make my story as different as possible from that_

 _For example , in the Fruit of Grisaia , most of the survivors of the bus crash are basically fleshed out characters , that you couldn't care less if they survived or not_

 _You don't get to find out more about them as characters , you don't know their personalities and etc_

 _That is the type of thing I am trying to avoid in this story …_

 _I want all the characters in this story to actual feel like real characters with their own personalities , history , relationships and past_

 _None of these characters will simply be tossed aside as just those faceless people who die for the sake of increasing the thrill and drama …_

 _I want to explore every character , even just a little bit before they either die or escape_

 _Also the reason , I'm using those 3 episodes as my main plot for this story is because , I'm still new to writing_

 _If you've read any of my previous works , you can tell the writing is seriously below average and the plots a relatively simple_

 _So please bear with me , if and when I may need to use other plots from other stories_

 _Well ! On with the story !_

 _P.S . Sorry if the title is a little misleading but this chapter , mainly just involves Makoto talking to a bunch of people AKA Filler garbage_

* * *

 **(DAY 21 )**

 **Its been a full day since , we lost Yumiko , Kakichi and Oliver …**

 **I simply find comfort in the shade , I'm being provided with underneath a tall tree , while sitting down on the grass …**

 **Our losses keep growing with each passing day and our chances of survival dwindle as well …**

 **"Hey Makoto ! " Sato calls loudly to me , while walking over to me …**

 **" Oh ! Hi , Sato " I said standing up to greet her with a smile**

 **"Hi Makoto , listen I wanted to ask you something " she asked me**

 **"What is it ?" I ask**

 **"Well me and Akio were going to go down to the river to see if we can catch some fish and we were wondering if you wanted to come " she asked politely with a smile**

 **Well , no point sitting here waiting to die is there ?**

 **I nod simply and agree to come with her**

 **"Alright ! Come on , lets go , Akio already went ahead so we should hurry if we want to catch up with him " she told me pulling on my hand …**

 **As we walked , I looked over to what remains of my classmates …**

 **Only a mere 21 survivors remain , with 2 wounded …**

 **"Alright come on , lets go " I said to her as we both began our walk to the river...**

* * *

 **Our walk to the river didn't take too long and when we arrived we were greeted by an impatient Akio …**

 **"Took you guys , long enough " Akio said in an impatient tone …**

 **"Yeah , sorry but I wanted Makoto to come too , I'm sure he'll be great help ! " Sato said with a smile …**

 **"In any case , lets just get started , I don't want to be out here any longer then we have to be " he said handing me and Sato some wooden spears …**

 **And so we began our hunt for fish , while our catch was quite successful it was tiring to say the least , with the hot sun beaming down on us …**

 **Noticing Akio was striking fish a little bit of a distance away from us , I spoke to Sato " So , Sato is there something you wanted to talk to me about ?" I ask her**

 **"W-what ? How did you know ?" she asked me surprised**

 **"I could sense you were dying to say something to me " I said to her with a smirk to which she smiled at me**

 **"Guess , I'm really easy to read , huh ?" she said to me rubbing her head with a cheeky smile**

 **"Yes , you are " I said to her with a playful smile**

 **"Yeah , I just wanted to talk to you about Amelia " she said to me and so her smile was replaced with a sad smile**

 **" She … she's just been … different , ever since she lost Oliver a day ago … " she said to me in a worried tone …**

 **I thought carefully before speaking " Sato … Amelia is in a very delicate state right now … " I spoke in a soft tone " Oliver was very … important to her … you can only imagine what she's feeling right now "**

 **"So what should we do ?" she asks me**

 **"For now , she needs time to grieve and when the time is right , we'll talk to her " I explained calmly**

 **"So we should just leave her alone for now ?" she asked me**

 **"Yes , but only for now , I'm planning to speak to her in a few days time " I told her " Why are you asking ?" I asked her**

 **Sato was silent for a moment , merely gripping her spearing and staring deeply into the river's reflection " Because … because I'm just … just really scared about losing anyone else " she confessed to me**

 **She was silent for a moment before she spoke again " We've already lost so many friends on this trip and I just … just can't stand watching anymore people I care about die " she said to me in a sad tone , with tears threatening to spill**

 **I sympathized with Sato , she had lost her father in a car accident when she was younger , since then her mothers been singlehandedly raising Sato by herself …**

 **But it's been very difficult for Sato's family financially and … I can understand her pain basically …**

 **"Sato look at me .. " I said to her in a firm tone that made her look at me in surprise at my sudden change in attitude …**

 **Then without fully thinking the possibilities of what the hell I was doing , I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a hug …**

 **She was surprised by it at first , but she eventually hugged me back …**

 **"Sato … " I spoke in a soft tone into her ear " Listen , I can't guarantee all of us are going to survive this … and the situation we are in is quite difficult … " I pulled away to look her in the eye**

 **"But if we stay strong and keep believing in the hope that there is still a way to survive this , I can guarantee you , we will survive … " I said to her in a firm yet comforting tone**

 **She was quite for a moment , pondering what I said , before speaking " Okay , I'm okay , thanks Makoto " she thanked me with a grateful smile**

 **We stared at each other for a good few minutes , before … " Hey ! If you two loverbirds are done kissing ! Can we go back to camp now ?" Akio yelled at us**

 **At that moment , me and Sato quickly pulled away from each other , both of us blushing bright red ...**

 **"Yeah , come on , lets go " I urged the group**

 **So we began our walk back to camp , none of us speaking for the sake of not turning even more red …**

* * *

 **Well , what do I do now ?**

 **I look around and spot Fumito writing in a journal, sitting below a tree and in the shade …**

 **Well , better than nothing I guess ...**

 **I walk over to him and greet him " Hi Fumito , would you like some company ?" I ask him**

 **"Hi Makoto , yeah sure have a seat " he said to me , quickly closing his journal**

 **I sit down next to him " What were you writing in that journal ?" I inquired**

 **"Oh , nothing , I'm just writing out my thoughts about this … whole situation we're in " he tells me**

 **"Really ? Can I read it ?" I asked him to which he shook his head to …**

 **"Sorry , but its kinda private and personal to me " he told me , holding it close to his chest**

 **I decided to take this opportunity to tease him about it " Don't tell me , you're writing fanfiction , about you and one of the girls getting it on " I said to him in a teasing voice to which he blushed red …**

 **" W-what ?! Of course not ! " he refuted angrily**

 **"You know , I can't believe our honorable class monitor would have the guts to write smutty fanfiction including one of his own classmates " I said to him in a jokingly surprised voice**

 **"I told you , I'm not !" he shouted to me , which actually caught the attention of some of our classmates**

 **"You know , I can't blame you for writing smut about one of your classmates " I said to him , while nudging his shoulders " Asako's pretty hot in my opinion if you can get past the attitude , Ayaka's pretty cute too with the glasses and shit and Sato's pretty much every guys wet dream " this teasing made him blush even more now**

 **"You're an asshole , sometimes , you know that ?" he said to me**

 **"Oooh ~ thank you for the compliment " I said in a joking manner**

 **I kept teasing him for a good , three hours or so …. Not letting up even once … Damn , I'm good …**

 **After dinner , I felt pretty happy that I was able to talk to some of my classmates**

 **And as I laid down in the tent , I felt peaceful …**

 **Little did I know that our next taste of despair was right around the corner …**

* * *

 _And that wraps up our bullshit filler chapter ! Don't worry , more character death is about to go down !_

 _By the way , Happy New Year ! By the time I release this chapter , it'll be December 31st_

 _Follow , Review to tell how I can write better and I'll see you guys later !_


	6. Update note !

UPDATE NOTE !:

Hey guys ! Sorry the new chapter is taking so long to get out but I've been stumped lately with school and questions about my own existence ...

Moving away from my possible mental problems , the next chapter will be coming out in a about a week from now , so stay tuned !

A little side note here , I am fully committed to completing this story and I've never been one to leave things unfinished ...

That all for now , see you guys in the next chapter !


	7. Serious note

New note

Listen guys , I know that some of you are waiting for the next chapter and I know I promised I would update the story weeks ago , but the thing is …

I'm putting my entire account on hiatus for the time being …

This means that all stories that have more than 1 chapter are being put on hiatus until I return …

I can't say exactly when I'll return to this site , because I have been dealing with multiple personal issues like existentialism , mild depression , family , school , etc …

Until all these issues have been settled , I can't effectively write without feeling like shit on this site or forcing myself to write another chapter .

But if you guys get bored and want to read some of my others works I have an account on AO3 , my username is DarkLight1506 , you can check some of my other DR works there , I will still be active somewhat over there , I'm currently doing a rewrite of Future Arc and the Student Council Killing Game .

If I'm not back in 6-7 months , then I have completely given up on writing entirely for this site …

I apologize if I have been a lousy writer/ author , but thank you all for reading and taking an interest in my stories …

I wish you all good health and fortune , Angel Wraith out ...


	8. Chapter 6 - Traps of the Heart

_Chapter 6 – Traps of the heart_

 _AUTHORS NOTES :Hi Guys ! I am officially back into the writing mood ! Sorry if I took a little too long but I had to get my s**t together , still am honestly speaking . But I've been getting better these past couple of months and I am officially back into the loop of writing and updating !_

 _To any of you who may be wondering why I exactly took such a long ass hiatus on all my stories , there is a reasonable explanation at the bottom notes ._

 _P.S : Sorry but this kinda-ish a filler chapter , with a tiny bit of drama in it . Hope you enjoy !_

* * *

 _What is selfishness ?_

 _The thought crossed my mind as I stared at the forest from the bus window , recalling every single detail of those days we spent , trapped there ..._

 _Selfishness is actually pretty common ... as a matter of fact humans are naturally selfish , its practically in their blood ..._

 _Don't believe me ? Well lets play a game of pretend shall we ?_

 _Say that someone asks you to kill someone , someone you don't even know , naturally you would refuse , correct ? Well lets change up the circumstances a bit , say that if you don't kill this person , you will be killed in their place , what would you do then , I wonder ?_

 _Selfishness is a basic survival instinct , of course you would prioritize your survival over someone else's ... human beings are animals after all ..._

 _So are humans naturally selfish ...?_

 _The answer is yes ..._

 _Human beings are animals after all ..._

 _But even animals ... can set traps ..._

 _Which leads me to the next part of our story , as I let my mind recall what happened just two days later ..._

* * *

 **( DAY 24 )**

 **The past few days have been relatively peaceful all things considered , but now , following up on what I said to Sato a few days ago , I need to stay true to my word ...**

 **Those were the thoughts that were going through my head , as I walked with Amelia alone , through the forest .**

 **I convinced Fumito to send me and her out on a little scouting run , as an excuse to get alone with Amelia ...**

 **It was now or never , I supposed ...**

 **"What do you want Makoto ?" Amelia asked me before I even opened my mouth "Huh ?" Was the only thing I could respond with .**

 **"I said ... what do you want Makoto ?" Amelia asked in a more ... darker tone I had never heard her use , I quickly see how this convo was going " What are you talking about " I ask hoping to save face .**

 **She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to me with a dark and serious look on her face " Don't play dumb with me Makoto , I know you asked Fumito to send us two out here alone " she glared at me , which caused ,me to back up a little as I raised my hands up in defense" Woah ! Hold up ! I just wanted to -" I was cut off once more by Amelia**

 **" To what ? Talk to me ? To comfort me as I cry into your shoulder or something ?! To treat as if I need some sort of pity from you !" Amelia was getting really angry as she approached me , which caused me to back away a little bit more as she continued coming to me " Or were going to tell me you know how I feel ? Well guess what Makoto ?! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND A DAMN THING ABOUT HOW I FEEL !"**

 **Amelia suddenly shoved me , which caused my back to hit the tree , Amelia wasn't finished though as she lunged at me and began pounding her fist against my chest , which hurt like hell ( Side note : Amelia is shorter than Makoto ) as she continued screaming at me .**

 **'WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT PAIN ! ABOUT LOSING SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT !" Those words were starting to get to me , as she raised her fist at my chest " WHAT DO YOU -" This time it was my turn to cut her off , as I swiftly grabbed her wrist and had quite a grip on it , which made her look at me in surprise .**

 **"I do know ..." I said in a low voice " I know what it feels like to someone you care about ... someone you felt like you knew your whole damn life ... and don't get me started about pain ... cause I know it intimately " I soften my grip on her wrist " But even then I can't say I know what you're going through ... every one handles grief in different ways , but let me tell you something Amelia , being pissed about what happened or blaming yourself or someone else isn't going to make the pain go away so just stop it ... You can take some time to indulge your grief and move on ... that's really the only way I know how to deal with this type of shit ..."**

 **I look down at Amelia and saw a sadness in her eyes I had not seen in days ... there ... there's the pain ... the emotion I was looking for that I thought had been lost ... Amelia suddenly embraced me as she sobbed into my chest ...**

 **"I-I-I'm s-so s-sorry Makoto !" She screamed as she continued sobbing , I couldn't help but smile a little as I wrapped my arms around her , returning the hug .**

 **"Its okay Amelia ... its okay ..." I say to her in a low yet comforting voice .**

 **We stay in this position for a good few minutes , Amelia crying into my shirt , as I gently stroke her hair , eventually she pulls away , wiping away some tear streaks**

 **"You feel better now ?" I ask her " Y-yeah , I definitely feel better now ... thanks Makoto ... Sorry I got kind of aggressive ..." She apologizes while looking to the ground , to which I comfort her with a hand to her shoulder " Hey , its okay , I've taken worse before , so its all good " I tell her**

 **She looks at me with a smile " Alright then , lets head back to the camp "**

 **"Um ... we kinda need to find some things out here before we head back " I tell her , to which she turns to me with a confused look " What do you mean ? I thought you only asked Fumito to send us out so we could talk " I nervously shake my head " Well , that's part of the reason but ... I do kinda need someone to help me collect some berries and plants that would make great traditional medicine "**

 **She turns to me with a skeptical look in her eye " Wait , so did you bring out here to talk or to help you do chores ? " I needed an escape ... quickly ...**

 **" A little bit of both ! Now we need to find them quickly or someone could possibly die , now come on lets go !" I say that sentence so fast before I run off into the forest to begin searching .**

 **"Wait ! Goddamnit Makoto !" I heard Amelia yell at me before following me .**

 **I couldn't help but smile at the though I was able to help out someone ...**

 **That plus I got someone to help carry the things I need back to the camp , so its a win-win !**

* * *

 **After finding everything I needed , we headed back to camp ...**

 **"Why did you need all this stuff anyway Makoto ?" Amelia asked as she began listing off the various items we were carrying " Berries , ferns , flowers , some stuff I don't even know , why did you need all this ?" She asked with an eyebrow raised**

 **Guess there's no other choice than to tell the truth ...**

 **" Well ... Its for Meiko ..." I answer scratching my head " Meiko ? Why does she need this ?" Amelia asks confused " Well, first , you have to keep this between us , okay ?" I tell her " Why ? Are these plants really that important ?" Amelia asked once more ,and I decided to give a more serious answer " Yes , as a matter of fact ... they're imperative to saving her life ..." I tell her seriously**

 **" WHAT !?" Amelia asks out of shock , which caused me to get her to calm down " Amelia please ... keep your voice down ... Yes , these plants are needed to save Meiko's life ..." I tell her softly**

 **"But why ? I though she was getting better ... I saw her walking around , these past few days and she looked perfectly fine ! Why is her life in danger ? " She asks me again in a less panicky tone " Meiko ... caught something , I don't know what and its making her ill , haven't you notice she's been eating less and less these few days ?" I tell her " Well , yeah ... I have noticed that she's been skipping meals more but ... how do you know she's sick ?" Amelia asked me with a worried look in her eyes " I noticed the subtle signs of it , her lessened amount of energy , her loss of appetite , it all adds up to clear signs of an infection ..." I tell her the whole truth**

 **"And you think these plants can help her ?" She asks me in a hopeful tone " Yes , these plants are very common in making traditional medicine , I'm hoping it will kill off the infection " I explain to her**

 **"Wait ... Hoping ?!" She asks me skeptical , with her hands on her hips " Yes , I'm not 100% percent sure this medicine will even work , especially in a place like this "I answer her honestly**

 **"Then why don't we tell Meiko about it ? Or even the rest of the class ? They have a right to know ! " She yells that last part at me " Listen Amelia ... everybody's been in high spirits lately , how do you think they would react if they found out , one of us may or may not die in a few days ? And more importantly how do you think Meiko would feel about it ? She's been getting back to her usual self lately and if she finds out that she may die ... I don't even wanna know what she would do ..." I say in a worried voice**

 **" So you want to keep Meiko's condition a secret ? " Amelia asks me " Yes... until I can make the medicine with this ... we should keep this under our hats , the only other people who know are Fumito and Sato "**

 **"I'm not sure about this Makoto ... I mean what if something went wrong ? Then it would- " I cut her off , by grabbing her shoulders and making her look me in the eye " Amelia ... please ... trust me ..." I say those few words in a low voice**

 **After about a minute or two she responds " Okay Makoto ... I'll trust you "**

 **I smile at her .**

 **"Alright lets get moving "**

 **The rest of our walk is in good silence ...**

* * *

 **Now I just need to add herbs to the mix aaaaaannnnddddd ... done !**

 **And with the final mix of the ingredients I had perfected the medicine , and they said reading books about traditional medicine was pointless , shows what they know !**

 **Now I just had to figure out a way to get this into Meiko , I look over to her as she was speaking to Sato ...**

 **I look to the sky , it was going to be night soon , so dinner will be just around the corner , if I can slip this into Meiko's food , maybe it would have the same effect ?**

 **I'd be taking a big gamble though and if Meiko finds out ... I don't even wanna think about it ...**

 **I quickly located Fumito and pulled him to the side so nobody could hear us , as soon as we were in the clear I explained to him my idea ...**

 **"What ? You want to slip the medicine into her food ?! " Fumito said to me in a rather shocked manner which I responded with a simple ' Yes ' " But wouldn't it be much easier just to ask her eat it ? " The moment he said that , I could feel the guilt rising up in my stomach**

 **"Well ... that's part of the problem " I told him , to which he gave me a confused look " What do you mean " he asked " Well , the medicine does work but there's a chance it might ... kill her ..." I said that last part in a low voice .**

 **"Kill her ?! Makoto you can't be serious about this !" He said to me in a shocked manner to which I tell him to quite down or someone could hear us " Its a 50 -50 chance at best " I explain to him calmly , but he still wasn't satisfied " That's still a big risk ! Hell no ! We're not doing it " At this point I was starting to get pissed with Fumito .**

 **"Well what's the other option Fumito , tell her she's going to die in a matter of days and tell her to say her goodbyes ? " I said in a cold yet frustrated manner " I would rather take the chance of trying to save her life than leave it up to fate "**

 **" Yeah ! Makoto's right ! We should take this opportunity !" Sakichi agreed with me but he was countered by Mizuki who was standing next to him " I don't know ... it still seems like such a big risk ..."**

 **"Well I'm glad at least someone agrees with me !" I said pointing to Sakichi**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **" Wait a minute ... Sakichi ! Mizuki ! What the hell are you guys doing here ?!" Fumito said in a surprised manner**

 **Sakichi scratched his head while looking sheepish , while Mizuki simply twiddled her fingers " Well ... we were both out here just ... admiring the scenery when we noticed you both were out here with us " Sakichi explained blushing slightly " And by admiring the scenery , you and Mizuki were making out , and then you saw us right ?" I flat out confront their little lie ...**

 **My response made them both blush in embarrassment , I couldn't help but smile a bit at them . You see Sakichi and Mizuki were a couple from day one , of school , Sakichi was the athletic one while Mizuki was the intelligent one , I would never have thought in a million years that a thick head like Sakichi would be able to score a relationship with a smartass girl like Mizuki ... ah .. how fate is so playful ...**

 **"So ... were you guys serious ? We heard what you guys were talking about just enough to get the gist of it but ... are guys for real ? That the medicine Makoto made could either heal or kill Meiko ?" Mizuki asked in a worried manner , I look to Fumito and saw the look in his eyes ... I could tell that he wanted to spill the beans so did I , and just like that we explained the whole thing to the two of them ...**

 **"So ... the medicine Makoto made could either save or take Meiko's life ?" Sakichi said " And we can't tell Meiko since there's no guarantee that it will work ?" Mizuki finished .**

 **I nodded solemly ...**

 **"Yes ... but please I want all three of you to understand , that my sole intention is to save Meiko's life nothing more ..." I explain to all three of them and I could see that they were debating silently whether to allow this to happen ...**

 **In the end , all three of them silently agreed ...**

 **"Alright Makoto ... we'll trust you ..." Fumito said to me ...**

 **"Damn straight ! We got your back man !" Sakichi said optimistically**

 **"And I'll be there to make sure none of you boys get yourselves killed " Mizuki said putting her hands on her hips , but smiling all the way ...**

 **I couldn't help but smile at the scene ... all three of us working together to accomplish a common goal ...**

 **But unknown to all of us ... even me ... a figure watched us from a behind the trees , glaring at me specifically ...**

 **And all the while I had no fucking clue ...**

* * *

 **After the little meeting between me , Fumito , Sakichi and Mizuki , Fumito assigned me to cooking duty ... that way , I could sneak the medicine into Meiko's food undetected ...**

 **But unfortunately for me , the only other person who had been assigned cooking duty that day was ...**

 **" What the hell are you doing here Naegi ?" Asako said in a sassy way to me as I approached the cooking station ( Which was just a big pot suspended over a fire )**

 **Asako ... great ... just my luck ...**

 **I think to myself in a rather sarcastic way , you'd be surprised by how much sarcasm I can dish out in one day ...**

 **" Look Asako , I don't like this just as much as you but lets just work together and get with it , okay ?" I tell her , to which she simply turned away from me .**

 **"Fine whatever "**

 **And like that we began 'working ' together ... Asako was complaining about the whole way , about how she would have literally anyone else as a partner than me or whatever ...**

 **"I can guess what you're thinking right about now Makoto ..." Asako suddenly said to me , to which I can only play dumb " Huh ? What do you mean ? " I try to play dumb with her but she doesn't stop buy it and continues " You're probably thinking something like ' God this girl whines way too much ! ' or something like that right ?" She looks at me straight in the eye ...**

 **I raise my arms in defense " No I wasn't thinking that !"**

 **I was totally thinking that ...**

 **"And now you're probably thinking ' I was totally thinking that ' right ?" her looks starts to turn grumpy and I could only scratch my head nervously**

 **"Well I honestly can't blame you or anyone in the class for not liking me because how whiny I am " she says to me looking down**

 **Huh ?**

 **Now that actually got me confused for a second and I was wondering if I had heard that right , Asako actually just said something ... negative about herself ?**

 **For the whole time I had known her , she had always put up this sort of prideful charade , I knew there was more to it but ... I never expected this ...**

 **My train of though was cut off when she spoke once more " People always distance themselves from me because of my shitty attitude ... I have too much pride for my age and I'm a pain in the ass because of it ... people avoid me and now with Kotone and Haruko ... dead ... I have no one left ... "**

 **I couldn't help but feel bad for Asako , I had known she didn't have any friends outside of Haruko and Kotone ... and now with both of them gone ... Asako must have been feeling very lonely these past few days ...**

 **My mind couldn't but flash back to the memories of them ... Haruko was an amazing athletic person , and even though she was a pain in the ass when she started bragging and shit ... she was still a damn fine person to be around , she wasn't bad just ... really prideful I guess ... And now ... all that talent has gone to waste ...**

 **And Kotone ... a genius in the field of Mathematics , even I struggled to keep up with her ... She was the only one of Asako's group that wasn't a total pain the ass to deal with ... A genius at such a young age ... yet she dies so young ... so despairing , isn't it ?**

 **Well I can't say their lives were in vain though , they both lived their lives as best they could to the best of their abilities and just ... following what they thought was the right way ... I've come to learn that sometimes that's just about the only thing we can do ...**

 **And with that final thought I gently place a hand over Asako's shoulder ...**

 **She looked to me in surprise ...**

 **"Look Asako ... I can't say I know how you feel right now ... I've lost people I cared about too ... but something I've come to terms with about death is that ... sometimes in life shit just happens and there's nothing anybody can do about it ... but that doesn't mean the situation is hopeless " I tell her , not breaking eye contact even once ...**

 **"And I'm sure if Kotone and Haruko were here now , they would probably say something like ' Why the hell are you still grieving over our corpses ? It's time to move on Asako, but don't ever forget us ' " I finish hoping I got through to her ...**

 **To my surprise she turns to me with a smile I had never seen before ...**

 **"Well ... thanks I guess ... You've given me something to think about that's for sure ... " She thanks me as she silently goes back to helping prepare dinner ...**

 **I couldn't but feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that I had helped someone today ...**

 **And I was even more satisfied that I was able to do it while silently slipping medicine into a bowl that I was going to hand to Meiko ...**

 **I smiled the rest of the way for two different reasons**

 **One was for helping someone ...**

 **And the other was knowing I had either potentially saved someone ... or killed them ...**

 **Guess we'll see huh ?**

* * *

 **I can't help but stare at Meiko the whole way , during dinner time , I was on lookout to see if the medicine perhaps worked after I had given her the bowl that is ...**

 **5 minutes ...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **30 minutes ...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **2 hours later ...**

 **Yeah , I think you guys basically get the point here , the medicine didn't kill her , I felt a sense of relief that I was able to save a friend ...**

 **But unknown to me ... another was staging a murder ...**

 **A trap was taking place that night ... one that could that could not only kill ... but one that could potentially destroy the bond between my classmates ...**

* * *

 **SURVIVORS REMAINING : ?**

* * *

And that is a wrap ! Man it feels good to write that line again !

Now you're all probably why I took almost 6 months to get my shit together and I shall explain .

Gather around the campfire boys and girls , cause this shit is about to get deep and kinda depressing !

It all started a year ago , when I first had my crisis of faith , still kinda am a believer ( mainly due to anxiety ) but I am losing faith . Last year was the start of my dreaded anxiety , I started feeling it regularly and due to me not resolving it , it all eventually spiraled into a full on existential crisis .

I tried studying religion and shit to try to get over it , but everytime I looked up something even the slightest bit religious my anxiety would suddenly kick in . This led to me having irrational thoughts and actions , like I tried searching on the internet for proof of hell and I got nothing . Then I had the bright idea of searching on the internet , honest to whatever deity exists up there ,

This ...

" Man goes to hell and takes a video of his time there "

And surprise surprise ! I got nothing , I think I started developing a fear of uncertainty this year and I'm still trying to get over it .

Anyway , that's all for an Angel's story , I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter . I may or may not , write about more of issues( since it kinda makes me feel better ) in these little Authors notes , but we'll see .

 **Angel Wraith out .**


	9. Chapter 7 - Traps of Betrayal and Deceit

**Chapter 7 – Traps of Betrayal and Deceit**

Hi guys ! I managed to finish this chapter a little sooner than I thought ! I actually thought I may have to publish this next month so I got kinda lucky here !

Anyway this is finally one of those chapters where something interesting happens ! I've been waiting a year for this moment !

I hope you all enjoy ! And with that , lets kill some characters !

* * *

 _There is one thing I never quite understood about people ..._

 _Why the hell are so many of them afraid of the dark ?_

 _I mean .. the night is quite peaceful ... is it not ...? Hell , it beautiful ..._

 _At night , when you fall to sleep , you are embraced by the warmth of darkness and slumber ..._

 _So in a way every night when you sleep , you are willingly facing your fear ..._

 _The night can be quite beautiful in its own right ... but also quite deadly ..._

 _As it can be used for more heinous crimes ..._

 _Every night when you go to sleep , you know that somewhere out in the world , someone is in pain ... or dying ..._

 _Or potentially planning to murder one of your own friends ..._

 _Makoto thinks as he closes his eyes as he recalls what happened days later after speaking with Amelia ..._

* * *

 **( DAY 32 )**

 ** _Written log , begin ._**

 ** _Its been more than a week since the operation with Meiko ..._**

 **Makoto thinks as writes his thoughts down in a journal as he sits on a branch that gave a good view of the sky ...**

 ** _I've been keeping a close eye on her and so far , there's been no sign that the medicine failed to do its job ._**

 **Makoto looks at the sky for a brief moment before sighing , restlessly ...**

 ** _Still no sign of rescue though ... we've been trapped in this Camp of Horrors for a little over a month ..._**

 ** _The others are starting to worry me , so far we've been able to survive without much issue ... but ..._**

 ** _Spending this much time , trapped in a forest is bound to start affecting their mental state ..._**

 ** _As much as I hate to admit it ... this is all starting to get to me too ..._**

 ** _To cope with it , I've started writing down my thoughts in a journal Fumito lent me , a few days back ..._**

 ** _I'll be fine ... I think ... but the others ..._**

 ** _Maybe I'm just writing all this down , cause I want someone to know our story if we either escape ... or die ..._**

 ** _Either way , I'm getting sick of this shit ..._**

 ** _End of log ..._**

 **Makoto closes his journal and sighs again ... when the hell are they gonna get out of this place ...**

 **He was certain he heard Ayaka crying last night about her mom ... and he heard Sakichi talking to Mizuki about his fears and shit ...**

 **They need to get out of here ... and fast ...**

 **Makoto thinks as he jumps down from the branch ...**

 **If they don't ... they'll start killing each other eventually ...**

 **Makoto morbidly thinks as he walks away ... unaware that it was going to happen sooner rather than later ...**

* * *

 **" Hey Makoto ! Come over here for a second !" Fumito calls out to him , standing next to Sakichi , Mizuki , Akio and Ayaka .**

 **Makoto turns his head to Fumito , at the moment he was currently playing cards with Katsuki and Fumiya and was currently in the midst of kicking their asses ...**

 **"Alright ! I'll be right there !' Makoto responds before turning back to Katsuki and Fumiya " Sorry boys , I'll just have to kick your asses at cards some other time ..." he said with a smug smile as he got up and walked away**

 **This angered both Katsuki and Fumiya " You were not kicking our asses ! " They both said together , but Makoto just looked back again with the same smile " No ... I was completely obliterating them ..."**

 **Both of the fumed with anger , as Makoto walked over to Fumito and the gang .**

 **" What is it Fumito ?" Makoto asks as soon as he approaches him .**

 **Fumito throws Makoto a bag , which Makoto catches " I need you Sakichi , Akio , Mizuki and Ayaka to go into the forest and see if you can find some edible fruits or berries or something " Fumito explains .**

 **" Why do you need me ? A four person team seems like enough ..." Makoto questions , to which Fumito answers " I need your expertise , we don't know what could potentially be poisonous out there , so we need you to verify them before taking them back here "**

 **Makoto sighs once more, he was honestly not in the mood to babysit " Alright ... tell me where to go ..."**

 **Fumito pointed down a direction in the forest " Sato said she spotted some berries and plants , down that way , go check em out "**

 **" Alright everybody ... lets go " Makoto said leading the group .**

 **Unknowing to the dangers that awaited them ...**

* * *

 **Now don't get me wrong I usually have plenty of respect for my classmates ... except when they start whining constantly ...**

 **Granted any normal person would start whining after spending almost 2 hours in the hot sun , collecting berries ...**

 **And so here we are , two hours into our journey in the forest with Akio complaining as per usual ... how fun !**

 **" Ugh ... are we finished yet ?" Akio complains , which is about the fifth damn time he has asked that question**

 **Makoto checks the bag " Nah ... we can still collect a little bit more , come on ..."**

 **All three of his friends excluding Sakichi couldn't suppress their groans of discomfort and pure agony of manual labor like this ...**

 **" I'm used to reading books and doing complicated math equations , physical activity was never really my thing ..." Mizuki complains aloud as she walks a bit sluggishly . She turns to her boyfriend who is looking very active without even breaking a sweat " How are you not breaking a single sweat ...? " She couldn't help but ask**

 **"Well ... I'm more used to doing physical activity like running and lifting weights so this doesn't really have much of an effect on me " Sakichi explains tossing another berry to Makoto for inspection .**

 **" Besides ... if you collapse who else is going to carry you back to camp ?" He questions to which he gets multiple responses**

 **" Me ?" Both Makoto and Akio ask at the same time**

 **" Literally any other boy back at camp with a little bit of muscle ?" Ayaka adds on with a smile on her face**

 **" Okay , okay ! I get your point ... but I'm still gonna be the one to carry you back to camp if you get hurt " He says in a cheerful tone , one which makes Mizuki smile and hooks her hands around one of his arms .**

 **" I know you will " Mizuki says in a happy tone**

 **It was one beautiful love filled sight ... until Akio had to ruin it ...**

 **" Hey ! Less lovey-dovey shit and more work ! I wanna get this done as quickly as possible " Akio says annoyed and walks ahead**

 **" Sorry " They both apologize together , to which Ayaka speaks up "No wait , don't apologize ! Akio was just being rude as usual !"**

 **Ayaka who was clearly mad at Akio for ruining their little happy moment , walked in front of him and stopped him in his tracks " Hey ! You shouldn't have ruined such a tender moment between a boy and a girl ! " Ayaka complained to him**

 **Makoto sighs ... Ayaka was among the smartest people in the class just like Mizuki , she had inspired to be a doctor from a young age ... but she also had the bad habit of trying to play matchmaker between people ...**

 **She was ultimately the person who brought both of them together ...**

 **Well that ... and a very weak and nice mugger ...**

 **It was a very long story involving him , a handgun , Ayaka , Mizuki , Sakichi , the police and a gunfight that ended badly for the guys on the other side ...**

 **Lets just say its better if you don't ask , Makoto thinks as Akio responds to Ayaka's annoyed complaints about him ...**

 **"Listen , I just want to get this done as quickly as possible ... I suppose you want to do the same , so lets just get this over with ..." Akio says bluntly , not the least bit sorry ...**

 **"Hmph !" Ayaka pouts and walks away from him ...**

 **And suddenly steps on a tripwire ...**

 **Everything seemed to slowdown for Makoto , as a massive log was about to ram into Ayaka ...**

 **He couldn't think , all he could hear was Mizuki's scream and the look on Ayaka's face as she was about to get hit ...**

 **"LOOK OUT ! AYAKA ! " Akio yells loudly as he quickly tackles Ayaka to the ground narrowly dodging the log as it rams into a tree ...**

 **" Holy shit ! " Sakichi exclaims , grabbing his head .**

 **" Ayaka ! Akio ! Are you both alright ?" Mizuki yelled running up to them , with Makoto and Sakichi in tow .**

 **" Y-Yeah ... I think we're alright " Akio said , giving Ayaka a hand up .**

 **" What the hell was that ? That log just came out of nowhere ..." Sakichi said as Makoto inspected the tripwire ...**

 **Hmmm ... this was man-made ... intentional ...**

 **Makoto looked around the forest and his eyes widened with fear ...**

 **" Guys ... We need to get out of here now ... " Makoto said to them in a low serious tone**

 **All four of them looked at Makoto with surprise , clearly shocked at the seriousness of his tone**

 **"W-W-What ? W-Why ?" Ayaka questioned still clearly rattled .**

 **" No time to explain , just follow me back to camp and stay close to each other ..." Makoto instructed to which nobody raised any arguments ...**

 **"Alright , lets move ..." Makoto said beginning the walk back**

 **The walk was ... at the beginning ... relatively simple ...**

 **Akio was walking behind Makoto , with Ayaka clutching his arm ...**

 **She was still shaken up by the trap and Akio kinda made her feel better ...**

 **Sakichi and Mizuki were holding each other in a similar manner ...**

 **And Makoto was leading in the front bravely ... until he triggered another trap ...**

 **Makoto quickly spotted two logs coming from both of his sides about to ram him and turn him into a human pancake ...**

 **" Holy shit ! Everybody get back ! " Makoto quickly ordered stepping back and quickly dodging the logs ...**

 **Unfortunately his order startled both Mizuki and Sakichi and they both stumbled back to step on another tripwire ...**

 **Akio turned around quickly enough , to see another log coming from his right about to hit Mizuki ...**

 **"Mizuki ! Look out ! " Akio yelled out to the couple trying to warn them**

 **" Mizuki ! Move !" Sakichi yelled before pushing Mizuki out of the way of the oncoming log**

 **Makoto could only watch in horror as Sakichi was rammed by the log and it sent his body flying a few meters away from them ...**

 **" SAKICHI !" Mizuki cried out to Sakichi , tears starting to form in her eyes**

 **" Oh my god ... Sakichi !" Ayaka cried out to him as well , grasping Akio's arm even tighter now .**

 **Makoto didn't say anything ... only tightened his hand into a fist as anger filled him ...**

 **"Sakichi ! Hang on !" Mizuki yelled out to him ... as if his old friend was still alive and without a second thought ran towards his body ...**

 **" Mizuki ! Wai- " Makoto tried to warn her but Ayaka and Akio were quickly following after her to Sakichi's body .**

 **" Son of a bitch ! " Makoto cursed before chasing after them ...**

 **Makoto saw that Mizuki , Akio and Ayaka had just began to approach Sakichi's body ... when another trap appeared ...**

 **Just as Mizuki was about to reach Sakichi's body with Ayaka and Akio following closely behind , a hole that had been covered up with the remains of bushes and branches made them all fall into it ...**

 **" Guys ! NO !" Makoto cried out to them ... this couldn't be happening ... he couldn't lose all four of his friends today ...**

 **Makoto quickly ran to the hole and looked down ... and what he saw shocked him to no words ...**

 **Mizuki ... the girl who had such a bright future ahead of her ... the girl who always had her head in the books ... was impaled by spikes that had been set at the bottom of the hole ... most likely added to make sure whoever fell inside was dead ...**

 **But that wasn't the only thing that made him look in shock ... Akio and Ayaka were alive ! Akio had somehow managed to grab onto the ledge and was holding onto Ayaka with his right arm with a firm -**

 **"Hey Makoto ! Are you going to help !? Or are you going to stand there narrating in your head !" Akio yelled at Makoto as he was clearly losing his grip**

 **" Oh ! Yeah right , sorry ! " Makoto grabbed Akio's hand and pulled him out**

 **As soon as Akio was out , with Makoto's help they managed to pull out a rather ... distraught Ayaka ...**

 **" MIZUKI !" Ayaka looked down the hole and called out to her friend and was quick to turn away when she saw that Mizuki was dead ...**

 **" Oh my god ! Ayaka , look away ! " Akio pulled Ayaka away from the hole and held her as she cried into his arms ...**

 **" M-Mizuki ... she's ... she's ..." Ayaka mumbled out but it was quickly drowned out by her sobs ...**

 **" Its okay Ayaka ... Its okay ..." Akio comforted Ayaka , gently holding her in an embrace ...**

 **Makoto on the other hand , looked down the hole at Mizuki's body with nothing but pure anger at himself ... How could he let this happen !? Especially to his friends ...**

 **Pushing these thoughts out of his heads , Makoto resolved to focusing on solving the problem at hand , now surely wasn't the time to mourn over his dead friends .**

 **Makoto walked over to Sakichi's corpse and pressed his fingers against his neck to check for a pulse ...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Nothing ...**

 **Sakichi was officially dead ...**

 **Makoto turns to Akio who is still comforting a crying Ayaka " Akio , Ayaka , we need to get back to camp now , there's no telling how many more of these traps are here "**

 **" I understand that but ..." Akio looked to Ayaka who didn't seemed to be listening to a single word Makoto just said " Ayaka still too damn distraught to move "**

 **" Well then carry her bridal style back to camp " Makoto suggested**

 **" Alright , that sounds like a good idea ... come on Ayaka " Akio placed his hands underneath Ayaka's knees and back and lifted her up .**

 **Ayaka was still sobbing into his chest , not at all caring that Akio was now carrying her ...**

 **" We take this slow and stay behind me , got it ?" Makoto ordered and questioned at the same time**

 **"Got it ..." Akio replied , as Ayaka continued sobbing**

 **"Lets move ..."**

* * *

 **The walk back was relatively safe ... emphasis on 'safe' though ...**

 **Makoto had scouted ahead multiple times to disarm traps and to make sure that the path ahead was all clear for Akio and Ayaka...**

 **It took about half an hour to get back to camp , but when they did ... it was a shock for everyone to say the least ...**

 **As soon as they entered Sato and Fumito looked at them and they're eyes widened in both shock , worry and fear ...**

 **A majority of people ran over to us to ask us what the hell had happened**

 **" Makoto ! What happened out there ? You guys have been gone for a while and we were getting worried ..." Fumito tells me with anxiety and fear written all over his face**

 **" And where's Sakichi and Mizuki ? They aren't with you ?" Sato followed up**

 **" And why the hell is Akio carrying Ayaka bridal style ?" Meiko questioned but I didn't really bother to care**

 **I look at Akio who is still comforting a crying Ayaka , and I turn to the rest of the group and explain what happened ...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **They're reactions were exactly as some of you might expect , some of them were shocked beyond comprehension , some were crying outright for our fallen classmates while some of them looked at the ground in despair ...**

 **Fumito was speechless , Sato was sobbing and Ayaka was still being comforted by Akio ...**

 **For me ...? Well ...**

 **I look up at the sky and see a bird flying free in the wind ..**

 **I could not believe that at that moment , I was jealous of a damn bird ...**

* * *

Hi guys ! Sorry this chapter is a short , I wanted to make it longer but then it would have come out waaaaayy later than it should have been if you get my meaning .

I don't know exactly when the next chapter will be out but if I had to make a guess I would have to say during early December or so

Tell me what you think about the story so far in the reviews !

With that , Angel Wraith out !


	10. Chapter 8 - Strings of Manipulation

**Chapter 8 – Strings of Manipulation**

Author's notes : First off , I would like to apologize to every single person who probably thought I was dead .

But guess what , I'm alive ! Sorry that this chapter came much later than expected , but with the pandemic forcing my entire country into lockdown , shit has gotten bad .

I hope that you are all in good health , amidst this crisis .

So with that in mind , lets get this chapter rolling !

* * *

 _You want to know why I hate Isekai genres ?_

Makoto thinks as he listens to the song , sung by Maizono's pop group as he closes his eyes to thinks about the past .

 _Because they basically encourage escapism ..._

 _No , really think about it ... most Isekai shows or animes typically portray an average joe with no special personality whatsoever being transported into a new world where suddenly they are the center of the fucking universe ..._

 _Isekai protagonist rarely face any realistic hardships , at least not the type you would face on regular day-to-day reality that's for sure ..._

 _They always get the girl ... in some cases multiple girls because that's realistic , they always get some super powerful ability or skill that makes pretty much any fight a breeze for them and everything else is pretty much a perfect little fantasy for them ..._

 _Everybody wants to live in that type of world ... don't even try to deny it , everybody yearns to escape from their boring mundane lives and live in a perfect utopia where the whole world revolves around you ..._

 _Yeah sure ... not all types of Isekai are like this ... but you gotta admit ... it does encourage escapism in a way ..._

 _I'm honestly kinda impressed by how companies have been able get away with encouraging this type of behavior ..._

 _Manipulation is fun and beautiful thing , is it not ?_

 _Seeing your manipulation go exactly as planned is quite thrilling ..._

 _Especially ones that involve murder ..._

* * *

 **( DAY 34 )**

 **Written log , begin .**

 _ **It's been two days , since we lost both Mizuki and Sakichi ...**_

 _ **Fumito and some other people went to go , and collect their bodies and store them in our little "dumping place " ...**_

 _ **Ayaka's still an emotional wreck after what happened to Mizuki , Akio's been doing his best to comfort her ...**_

 _ **Not exactly a sight , that's common in our class , but one I'm appreciative of , right now I don't think I can handle taking care of more of my classmates mental and emotional issues .**_

 _ **Anyway , immediately after we broke the news to the rest of the group about Mizuki and Sakichi's deaths , I went back and scouted out the entire surrounding area .**_

 _ **The entire area surrounding our camp was filled with traps , not just the spot where Sato spotted those berries , but everywhere .**_

 _ **Pits filled with spikes , ramming logs , you name it .**_

 _ **It took me forever to disarm all of them ...**_

 _ **The worst part is ... while I was disarming the traps , I noticed that they all seemed to have been set recently ...**_

 _ **So either there is a crazy psycho in the forest actively toying and trying to kill my class ... or there is an enemy among us ...**_

 _ **Either way ,I was too tired that day to figure it out so I spent the rest of that day and the following day , resting .**_

 _ **But now I'm back on my feet ... and ready to deal with a whole new batch of terrors .**_

 _ **There's still no signs of rescue ...**_

 _ **My classmates ... they are cracking , I can see it in their eyes , the way they move ... everything .**_

 _ **Seriously ...**_

 _ **Fuck. This . Forest .**_

 _ **End of log .**_

 **Makoto shuts his journal with a bit more force than necessary , the frustration of being stuck in this hell hole must have finally been starting to get to him , much like his classmates . They've been stuck in this little camp of horrors for over a month now and there are still no signs of rescue .**

 **Haruto was theorizing yesterday , that maybe the police thought they were all dead . Makoto seriously doubts that , the police were more likely to think Sensei kidnapped us all and sold us to slavery than an accident .**

 **Though ... Makoto wisely decided to keep that part to himself , there are some things that are better left unsaid .**

 **Anyway he is certain that their parents would press the police hard for an extended search , in hopes of finding their lost children .**

 **Or ... at the very least , try harder to recover their corpses and get a final confirmation of death .**

 **Yeah , this forest is officially driving me crazy .**

* * *

 **Since early morning , Makoto had been sharpening makeshift spears to plant into the ground around our camp with both Haruto and Itaru . Fumito was concerned about us being attacked by wild animals , ever since what happened with Seiga ... he said they'd better not take any chances .**

 **So here we are , sharpening spears to make a defense for our camp against a forest , that seems to want us all dead ...**

 **" Uggggggghhhhh" Haruto lets out a long drawn out over-dramatic groan in both tiredness and frustration " This is taking forever and I think my arms are about to fall off from all this sharpening !"**

 **Makoto rolls his eyes at Haruto's antics , while he wasn't exactly what one would call lazy in terms of either academics or physical activity ... but he certainly wasn't meant for this type of manual labor .**

 **" Hey man , get over yourself , Fumito said we gotta get this done before sun down " Itaru retorts to Haruto's previous comment**

 **Haruto's brows furrow in anger " Man , I'm not a goddamn manual labor worker ! "**

 **" No shit , you're a goddamn diva " Itaru retorts once more , finishing sharpening another spear and taking another one .**

 **" Hey ! Don't call me a diva just because I'm complaining over the fact that we've stuck in this makeshift hellhole for over a month with no signs of rescue ! " Haruto plants a spear into the dirt in anger " So sorry Itaru , sorry that I'm not exactly bursting into song and radiating enthusiasm and happiness ! "**

 **Haruto turns his back to us , I give a glance to Itaru , he seems to be feeling bad about setting Haruto off .**

 **And now ... I got to deal with it ... like always ...**

 **"Hey man ... are you okay ?" I ask a stupid question , that anybody with basic emotional intelligence would know the answer to ...**

 **Haruto lets out a frustrated sigh ...**

 **"No Makoto ... no I'm not okay " He turns back to face us , but he still keeps his head down facing the dirt " Its just this forest ...its ... " He doesn't bother to finish his sentence , but both me and Itaru and can hear the frustration and barely suppressed anger in his voice**

 **" It feels like that this whole forest is a nightmare , I just can't seem to wake up from " Haruto spits out every last word , with anger in his voice .**

 **A nightmare huh ...?**

 **That ... would actually be a comforting thought ...**

 **It would be nice to think that this is all nothing more than just a horrible nightmare , we're all going to wake up from soon ...**

 **But the reality is ... this isn't a nightmare ...**

 **This is the cruel harsh reality of the situation we've found ourselves placed in ...**

 **And it is a reality we all have to face ...**

 **But ... that does not mean we must face it alone ...**

 **"Hey ... Haruto " I approach him carefully and place a hand on his shoulder " Listen ... I have no freaking clue on what you might be going through right now ... and I ain't going to pretend like I do ... but we need to stay strong and live , not just for ourselves but every one of our classmates who have died up to this point ! " I speak with much hope in my voice , not a single word a lie**

 **" We need to keep living and stay strong ... for them " I repeat what I just said .**

 **Haruto is quiet for a moment , but eventually he lets out a sigh " Yeah ... you're right man " he wordlessly walks back next to Itaru and begins sharpening a spear .**

 **Me and Itaru look at each other for a moment , wondering if my inspirational speech did the job .**

 **" Hey , you guys gonna make out or something ?" Haruto's snarky voice cuts through the silence " Well , do it later ,we gotta finish these spears as fast as possible ! " Haruto says with his usual optimism . And me and Itaru smile .**

 **" Lets get to work " Itaru says grabbing another spear .**

* * *

 **It was a few hours after we finish sharpening all the spears we needed for the defense of our little ... base or camp or whatever the hell you wanna call it . We set the spears up , facing the forest , that should slow down whatever comes at us . It was pretty impressive all things considered and in all honesty it was a decent defense created by a bunch of young teenagers .**

 **Like Sato said a few days ago , we gotta make the best of our situation and that includes finding a way to defend ourselves.**

 **It was mid afternoon and I had nothing special to do , the only thing I could really think about doing was ways to escape this forest . At this point , I can't rely on the authorities coming in and saving us , we've stuck in this hellhole for over a month and still nothing . And staying put and waiting certainly is not an option . Sure , we've survived so far , but we're not going to last another month out here . We've already lost a good portion of our group , if this keeps up ... we'll all be dead by the end of month .**

 **So the way I see it , there are three possibilities on how to escape this ' Camp of Horrors ' as some of the others have dubbed it :**

 **First option , is that we light a bunch of bond fires and hope that attracts the attention of somebody enough for them to call the authorities . We have no shortage of wood and all we would need to do is just build three of them in a straight line or a triangle , which is the universal distress call . But the problem is , is that we run the risk of burning the whole forest to the ground , there are good clearings or spots nearby big enough to safely light a big fire without the treeline catching a spark . Then they would really be fucked . Sure it would get attention , but the most the authorities would uncover would be their charred corpses .**

 **' Okay so option 1 is obviously out ...' Makoto thought in his head .**

 **Second option , is to play the waiting game and try to hold out for help a little longer . Admittedly , I'm quite impressed that we've been able to be so self sufficient , but if we're not going to last out here forever , for one of two reasons . With having to hunt for food , eventually the forests animals will start to run thin , making food scarce . And they certainly can't fish enough to get food for everybody . And what about the winter months ? They'll freeze their asses of here , in such cold conditions , fire will be hard to come by and with plenty of animals going into hibernation , it will make food even more scarce which will cause even more problems .**

 **' Option 2 is out as well , because it would eventually causing more problems for them , down the line ' Makoto thought placing a hand to his chin .**

 **The third and final option is to attempt to escape from the forest . This is something I've had on my mind for a while now , if even one of them could escape from the forest and contact the authorities than they could bring back help for the rest of them . But ... this forest is huge and pretty easy to get lost in , we spotted the edge of the forest weeks back on that cliffs edge when ... Amelia's brother died . While it would seem easy to just walk in a straight line towards the end of the forest , the forest itself is very , very dense and not easy to navigate in . Not to mention , god knows whatever dangerous animals they could encounter .**

 **So many options , so many options , but not sure what to do ...**

 **" Hey Naegi ! " A voice I recognize as Akio's calls out to me .**

 **" Yeah , what is it ?" I say a little snippy . I hope to god that this isn't going to be another therapy session .**

 **Damn , even my thoughts are getting snarkier than usual .**

 **" Uh ... nothing , I just was wondering if you had a minute to talk " Akio asked scratching his head , clearly off put by my mild snippyness . " I can come back later if you-"**

 **" No , its fine , I don't mind talking " I tell him . Now wasn't the time to play the angry tween . " So what is it you want to talk about ?"**

 **Akio takes a seat down next to me , getting into the shade , he definitely looks worse for wear than he did a few weeks back . Knowing Akio he's probably just about done with this all this shit , in fact I think all my classmates are quite frankly sick of this shit . Sure they had been surviving so far , but being stuck in this forest was starting to get to them ... more than they would like to admit .**

 **" Hey Akio , you okay ?" I ask him , sensing his worry . I've always been extremely good at reading people and their emotions , and Akio was practically an open book for me to read .**

 **Akio waved off my concern " Its nothing its just ... I'm worried about Ayaka "**

 **Oh yeah ... I had almost completely forgotten about Ayaka , she was still taking Mizuki's and Sakichi's pretty hard . It was practically Amelia's case all over again . She had basically isolated herself from the rest of the group , only showing up for meals and doing the minimal amount of what she had to help out . Asako had complained about her not pulling enough of her weight these past few days , but thankfully Fumito was sympathetic and didn't put too much work on her .**

 **I mean who could blame Ayaka ? She had literally watched one of her friends and her boyfriend die in front of her , anybody would take that shit hard . I had told Asako off , reminding her how hard she took Haruka and Kotone's death .**

 **" Yeah ... I hear ya , she's still taking Mizuki and Sakichi's death hard ." I say softly , not wanting to think about their deaths for long .**

 **" I've tried talking to her but ... she's still pretty distant . I'm honestly starting to think that she might have Survivor's Guilt over what happened " Akio said .**

 **Survivor's Guilt , defined as a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress experienced by someone who has survived an incident in which others died . It commonly happens in major accidents such as plane crashes , sinking boats , car crashes , pretty much any person who has been through some kind of horrific incident would likely in turn experience Survivor's Guilt .**

 **Those who experience it , tend to think that they should not be alive in place of those who died .**

 **If Ayaka is thinking that ... than that ain't good .**

 **" I just don't know what to say to make her feel better ! " Akio thinks out loud . " I've tried to be encouraging and that sure as hell didn't work out , I've tried to be extra nice to her and that went to hell quickly , I even tried imitating you and tried to give her a 'motivational' speech to try and make her feel better but ..."**

 **" It didn't work out ?" I finish his sentence for him .**

 **" Yeah ... did not work " Akio let out a sigh . " I just ... don't know what to do to make her feel better "**

 **" Then don't ..." I suddenly say .**

 **Akio turns to me with a confused look . " Wait ... what ?"**

 **I turn to him with a serious look in my eye " Listen to me Akio , I find your actions of trying to comfort Ayaka very noble and honorable but ... Ayaka is in a very delicate state right now , she has just experienced something very traumatic , which in this case is the loss of her friend and her friends boyfriend . Do you recall how Amelia acted after Oliver died ?"**

 **Akio looked down at the ground with a sad face at recalling Oliver . " Yeah ... she shut herself off from the rest of us "**

 **" Correct . That is exactly what Ayaka is doing right now " I look off to the side . " I'm not saying we shouldn't try to get her to open up again , but right now Ayaka needs time to heal and be by herself . If anything , the thing she needs most right now is just somebody to listen to her and comfort her when she needs it . Do you understand what I'm saying ?"**

 **Akio is silent for a moment before answering " Yeah ... I think I get what you're saying . Thanks for the talk Makoto "**

 **Akio stood up and walked away , leaving me by myself .**

 **I'm guessing that Akio's probably off to process everything I just said and integrate it into how he can help Ayaka . He may not be brightest bulb in the classroom , but he certainly got things done when they needed to be .**

 **I didn't mind being left alone though , much like Ayaka and Amelia , I wanted to be alone as well .**

* * *

 **Its been about an hour since dinnertime , we had our usual rabbit stew and grilled fish . Dinner went without a hitch , excluding the occasional protest from one of the girls , saying that they couldn't eat something so damn cute . I don't get why the girls are still so picky even after we've been stuck here for over a month .**

 **We don't exactly have the luxury of being picky with what we eat , so they might as well suck it up .**

 **I grab a stick and use it to stoke the flames of the fire , I was currently seated on one of the logs near the fire we set up earlier . We designated the spot as our 'eating area' . The spot was rather nice if one ignored the fact , that we've been here for a month and several of us have died .**

 **I couldn't help but think back to dinnertime and no it was not because I was regretting not taking seconds . Dinner may have been rather peaceful , but I couldn't help but notice the sever drop in conversation between all of us . Back then , when we were ... mostly whole as a group , when we first got stuck in this hellhole , we all chatted quite a lot during dinnertime , the girls gossiping over what have you , the guys having their guys talk and of course Fumito and Sato fussing over everybody .**

 **But it isn't like that anymore , now everybody seems to just keep themselves and honestly ... who could blame them ?**

 **We have already lost so many of us and we're still no closer to getting out of this hellhole , its almost hard not to be depressed over it .**

 **Sato's tried to stir up morale among us during dinnertime . Emphasis on 'tried' .**

 **They all know Sato just means well but ... they all really are not in the mood for any inspirational speeches .**

 **All in all ... our situation is still quite frankly shit .**

 **" MAKOTO ! "**

 **I almost jump at the sudden shout of somebody calling my name , I turn to see Meiko stomps towards me , clearly not in the best mood .**

 **" Meiko , what is - AH !" I stumble back as Meiko slaps me clean across the face . I grit my teeth at the stinging pain , having to resist the urge to bitch slap her back .**

 **At that point , pretty much everybody is staring and running towards us to see what the hell is going on .**

 **" Makoto , are you okay ? " Sato asks me .**

 **" I'll live ..." I glare at Meiko , not at all happy at what she just did . " She hits like a bitch "**

 **" WHY YOU ! - " Meiko seems to get even angrier and moves in for another strike , but this time , I'm prepared , maybe I'll just hurt her a little .**

 **" Hey ! Hey ! Meiko calm down ! What the hell is going on here ! " Fumito asks , getting in between me and Meiko to break up whatever fight that may escalate .**

 **Meiko gives me a death glare " I'll tell you what's going on ! "**

 **Meiko points an accusatory finger at me .**

 **" This bastard played with my life and almost killed me a few days ago ! "**

 **I couldn't help but recoil in shock as Meiko announced it to the whole camp . She's referring to when I slipped the medicine into her food a few days back to save her life , but there was a small chance that she may possibly die from it .**

 **Meiko's voice became drowned out as in that moment , the only thing I could think about was ...**

 **Who the hell told her ?**

* * *

 _And that is the end of the chapter ! Damn it feels good to be back !_

 _I genuinely hope that this chapter has been worth the wait . I'll try to update as soon as I can , but I can't make any promises ._

 _Now before I sign off , I should probably let you all know , that I intend to bring this story and my other Danganronpa story , Operation Warhead , to their quick conclusion as soon as I can . Most likely in the next few chapters ._

 _If I'm being completely honest here , I've really lost my passion and enthusiasm for both stories . Which is why the updates are slow as hell . I would have flat out discontinued both stories , but I didn't want to disappoint everybody who has read both stories so I held on ._

 _But I figured that enough was enough , and have decided to bring both stories to their quick conclusion as soon as I can ._

 _I would like to thank everybody who has reviewed and read this story , it means a lot to me that people actually read my stuff ._

 _With that being said , Angel out ._


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